YOUR article on the meeting of West Devon Borough Council?s planning committee concerning the sorely contested issue of the development of the Pentillie Road site at Bere Alston was accurate so far as the substance is concerned. The way in which the objectors to the proposal were treated has given rise to the greatest concern as to whether there is now any purpose in having public debate at all. Forty one objectors had entered 17 separate grounds for objection. A number of objectors we know of (at least five) had indicated a wish to speak, as directed in the published document on the procedure. On December 1 they received a letter informing them that only one would be allowed to speak, and he/she would be limited to three minutes. This constraint is utterly unreasonable. We managed to nominate an agreed speaker, and arrived at the meeting to find a continuous video showing the council?s view of the site. When we asked to display ours, permission was refused. Only one councillor, Christine Grills, of Bere Alston, made any clear statement, opposing the (yet to be proposed) motion. Council officers and the chairman spoke without any apparent limit of time, and the consistent story that emerged was that the council had been charged with finding new sites for a 4,100 new homes, (not 1,800 as reported) they had to spread them somewhere and as Bere Alston was one of the bigger communities it had to have its share along with Okehampton, Tavistock, Hatherleigh and North Tawton. This strategy, monitored and enforced by the Government Office of the South West, and repeatedly endorsed by the chairman ?because it was in the Plan?, apparently allowed them to override normal planning parameters such as access, safety, need, environment and infrastructure ? all constraints that affect Bere Alston to a far greater extent than the other locations, as the inspector conducting the inquiry into the County Plan in 2003 most clearly stated. The people of West Devon deserve better than this. If we are to stop the continued rape of the countryside by opportunistic land speculators, a change in the culture underlying the planning processes and their execution is needed, with proper recognition being given to local residents? needs and wishes, and much less to those of remote and frequently misinformed or indeed indifferent bureaucrats. Geoffrey M Stowell Mike Benson representing the Bere Alston Action Group