I COULD not agree more with the comments made by Christine Marsh about the 'St James Chapel enhancement', particularly the reference to cold textures and the fact that the wavy lines give one a giddy feeling.

Further on in your paper I read that work has stopped as permission has not been granted to move the telephone box, surely this should have been sought before beginning the project.

Having tried continually to get West Devon to complete the 'enhancement' project outside our property, which was started six years ago, with no success, I find that I can also agree with Mike Parnell's comment: 'Yes! This delay is extremely frustrating' it also detracts from the business potential that traders in this town are trying hard to create.

Jill Hoather

Plymouth Inn

26 West Street

Okehampton

SO, Mark Parnell (Times, July 13) is 'very surprised' if local people feel they have been ignored in relation to the continuing work outside St James Chapel. Well I'm very much afraid that they have been.

Members of the congregation which worships faithfully in St James, have had to survive the nightmare of noise and the devastation surrounding their church for well over a month now, only to see the horrible emerging results. They have certainly not had their voices heard!

Consultation does not just mean telling certain groups what you are going to do. It involves listening and changing plans in response to them. With the best will in the world the St James development has turned into what can only be called a total disaster.

Let us please stop this mess and draw breath, to plan carefully what we want to do with the very heart of our community and town.

The Rev Paul

Fitzpatrick

Okehampton

THERE has been a distinct failure to gauge public opinion regarding the St James Chapel area enhancement project judging by the correspondence and the main article in last week's Times.

The county local project officer justified current activity by claiming support from widely held consultation and local authority approval. Now it emerges that part of the scheme lacks local authority planning permission and is based on views obtained from an ad hoc organisation.

In 1935, George Gallup debunked this style of opinion gathering and formed the American Institute of Public Opinion. He was able to expose the tactics of those who tried to impose their own ideas and agendas whilst claiming to assess public opinion.

Sadly, too many modern projects seem to be based on this sort of spin and the 'we know best' type of argument where potential users are blatantly ignored.

The Okehampton and District Council for Voluntary Service represents over 100 local groups and voluntary organisations that are continually submitting proper assessments of public need and opinion when applying to funders for financial support.

Many of these groups could represent the ideas of people of all ages and abilities who are too embarrassed to voice an opinion to an official at a public demonstration. A lot of people are unwilling to express their views in writing, do not want to be named in the press, have no desire to belong to Okehampton 2000 and are ineligible to belong to the chamber of trade.

The so-called enhancement plan for Okehampton is now dated and never was accepted by the community as a whole. Residents of Okehampton should now be assured that Fairplace, the Old Mill and Simmons Park are not going to be enhanced because of similar outdated and unacceptable surveys of public opinion.

The Rev Barrie Duke

Chairman

Okehampton and District Council for Voluntary Service

l Last week's main story on the St James Chapel area enhancement stated that the scheme was commissioned by West Devon Borough Council. It is, in fact, a collaboration between West Devon Council and Devon County Council — Editor