THE distribution of funding from government bodies came under fire from councillors in Tavistock last week. Members of the town?s finance committee said expectation of funds in the light of the foot and mouth crisis had been high ? but in the intervening months, despite much work by committed members of the community, little cash appeared to have filtered through. Cllr Peter Jones, chairman of the committee, said: ?People put so much work in in the first place but nothing seems to have happened. ?We had the brokering day but nothing happened after that and unfortunately, people from those groups will get fed up and stop attending meetings.? Cllr Iain Andrews said he was ?fed up? with hearing about ?pseudo democratic bodies?. He compared grant money and the way it was filtered through agencies with rain falling on the leaves of a tree without reaching the ground below. ?There are so many layers of administration and bureaucracy and the people who actually deserve it don?t see a bit of it ? I feel very frustrated by it,? he said. Cllr Caroline Keane said: ?The energy and enthusiasm of people gets lost. We were asked to get actively involved, we were involved, and we are left with nothing.? Cllr Alison Clish-Green said there were a few ?pockets? where projects did actually appear to be progressing, but she felt the Rural Development Agency was where the money was being held up. Cllr Roy Connelly agreed that some areas had been successful in drawing down funds ? but unfortunately, not all. ?I think the villain of the piece is the RDA ? they have promised so much and given nothing,? he said. The committee agreed the clerk should draft a letter to be sent to the chairman of West Devon Community Planning Forum, expressing councillors? disquiet at the situation. The letter will be presented to the council for its approval at a future meeting.
