WEST Devon Borough Council is being asked to consider professional help as a way forward in achieving better consultation with the public in Okehampton.

The need for more consultation over projects in the town was the subject of a heated meeting of Okehampton 2000 last week.

The enhancement of the area around St James Chapel has been hampered by disagreements and townspeople feel they have not been properly consulted over the plans.

Ana Pulteney, of Okehampton 2000 and WestDEN's Sustainable Communities Project, has suggested the authority uses some 'professional help' in building a consensus.

'It has been done in other places successfully,' she said. 'Maybe it is something the borough council can learn from as there is going to be a lot of development and changes in the town over the next few years.'

This approach was successfully adopted by the Joint Advisory Committee for the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) during the compilation of the AONB management plan.

'If people feel they are being properly consulted it makes for a healthy, happier community which is something we just do not have at the moment,' she added.

Mrs Pulteney said obviously there would be costs involved but making an outlay at the initial stage could save a lot of money in the long run.

'Working towards building a consensus in the community is a completely different way of tackling the issue rather than the decide, announce, defend process that we currently have,' she said.

She has sent copies of The Local Government Management Board's 'Local Networks for Building Consensus' to borough, town and county council representatives.