PRIORITIES on a wish-list of projects to be carried out in Tavistock went under the spotlight during a heated discussion by town councillors at their meeting last week.

Members of the town's finance committee were discussing the projects to be paid for in the coming year when the question of a new gate into the Dolvin Road cemetery was raised.

Deputy mayor Cllr Jenny Metcalf said it was 'ridiculous' that the gate, which would cost £300 to install, had not been tackled.

'It's such a small item, it ought to be done. At £300 it's silly to put it off again. Many people have asked me why it hasn't been done.

'There's very dangerous access to that cemetery; the staff have to lift machinery over the wall — it's a very major item as far as irritation is concerned.'

Cllr Peter Jones, chairman of the committee, said: 'If staff find it difficult to get machinery over the wall it's a health and safety issue, so it should be done.'

Cllr Alison Clish-Green questioned how the 'category A' projects had been prioritised.

'We ought to do things that are achievable and what the public want,' she said.

But Cllr Roy Connelly warned that the building work currently under way at the council chamber was seriously depleting the authority's reserves, and pressure on next year's budget would be even more acute.

And town mayor Cllr Norma Woodcock was against including the gate in the category A list.

'This cemetery has been very well kept without it,' she said. 'This council has to be clear about what is essential. We need to be extraordinarily self-disciplined, particularly over small items,' she said.

The gate was requested by a member of the public at an annual town meeting several years ago, but so far it has not been given a high enough priority for works staff to include in their schedule.

Town clerk Roger Howard admitted the cemetery was 'a devil to get in to' as far as works staff were concerned.

He said the gate was a job which had been in abeyance for a long time and hoped by moving it into the category A list, works staff could pencil it in sooner rather than later. The gate would be hung in the wall near the crossing in Dolvin Road, said Col Howard.

'It's such a small thing to do, we don't need planning permission or anything. As soon as the boys have finished with Goose Fair we can hopefully get round to it,' he said.

Other items in the category A list of projects include the enhancement of town council-owned playparks, for which £10,000 has been set aside, £18,000 to be spent on repairing and painting the town hall fire escape and a replacement for the ageing iron bridge over the River Tavy in the Meadows, for which a costing has yet to be made.