COUNCIL meetings designed to bring councillors and the public closer together have so far failed to attract much interest from the voters — but the councillor behind the scheme warned about being too hasty to abandon it.

West Devon councillor Nick Waterhouse proposed holding council meetings in outlying parts of the borough so that the public had more of a chance to see how their council worked.

It was thought the scheme would also give councillors an opportunity to see what life was like in communities outside the two major towns.

So far, two meetings have been held in Chagford, one in Hatherleigh and the fourth, and last, in the trial period was at Lewdown on Tuesday.

There were no members of the public at any of the first three meetings, apart from a member of the press, and only a couple at the planning meeting in Lewdown, other than those directly involved in particular cases.

It is expected a report will be made setting out the observed benefits, or otherwise, of the meetings and the cost implications — extra allowances due to councillors and officers and hall rental costs for example — before councillors will decide whether to continue the scheme.

Mr Waterhouse said the idea had been to make Kilworthy Hill, the Tavistock home of the council, less of an 'ivory tower' to increase a fast waning public interest in local government and enable members to visit other communities.

He said in Hatherleigh, a number of councillors were quite shocked at the state of the village hall for a town of that size. 'There was no disabled access, and the toilets . . . It's an education for all the parties involved.'

It is unlikely councillors got to see much more of Hatherleigh since the meeting started at 4.30pm in the dark and went on until about 9pm. However, in Chagford, there were two meetings in one day, spread between the morning and the afternoon, so members were able to get out into the town for lunch and a bit of shopping, said council committee secretary Wendy Cooper

Mr Waterhouse said there had been little opportunity for the residents to see 'this wonderful thing' and he likened it to introducing a new bus service.

'It takes 12 months for people to realise there's a new service and 18 months before they start using it. It's no use taking it off after a month,' he said. 'I don't know if it will be seen as a success, but there will be a report and we'll discuss that at council.'

As for cost, Mr Waterhouse doubted it would make a lot of impression in a £5.5-million budget.

'Travelling costs probably aren't that much different. I doubt the total bill was any higher to get to Hatherleigh than Okehampton. I would have claimed more, living in Burrator, and Peter Hill, living in Chagford, a lot less,' he said.

Mrs Cooper added that the council could also offset the costs by renting out the council's own chambers to outside users.

l Members can claim 48.5p per mile for a car larger than 1.2 litre — Burrator to Hatherleigh is about 60 miles return, about £30 — and £8.38 for an evening meal if away from home for more than four hours ending after 7pm. This is in addition to an attendance allowance of £13 for any time up to five hours and £28 beyond that.