MOST of your coverage and correspondence on the subject of the cinema has concerned the whereabouts of the cinema, not the impact of a cinema. Since the closure of the Carlton Cinema I have continued to attend regular cinema screenings in Okehampton and have seen modern films from Spain, Eastern Europe, Asia and South America as well as the UK and Hollywood, all organised by Okehampton Moving Pictures, a volunteer group who run regular screenings at the Charter Hall and Octagon Theatre for only £4 a ticket. It is a friendly group showing films as community events with reasonably priced fresh coffee and tea at both venues. Okehampton already has a cinema, it grew with very little support from the town council and kept alive regular screenings in the town. It organises children?s matinees in the school holidays and screenings in village halls around Okehampton. Ironically, a commercial cinema may in fact reduce the choice of films available in Okehampton. My concern is that once a commercial cinema moves in, the wide variety of films programmed by Okehamptopn Moving Pictures will cease. We will be restricted to the products of the Hollywood sausage factory, often as bland as the overpriced popcorn and hot dogs, for which we will have to pay twice as much. Has the council made provision for this potential loss of choice in the community, by perhaps contacting Merlin to make its facilities available for community use, or is the commercial venture the only concern? Stephen Dunn 11 Castle Cottages Castle Lane Okehampton
