CONCERNS over the state and use of a public gate on the edge of Dartmoor National Park were expressed by a Whitchurch resident this week. The gate, situated at the top of Chollacott Lane, Whitchurch, has been called an ?embarrassment? by Billy Bennett of Greenlands. He went to see the 20/20 cricket tournament at Tavistock Cricket Club on Sunday, which attracted teams from all over the district. But he was dismayed to see cars had constantly to stop at the gates with engines running, before drivers got out to open and shut them. Mr Bennett told the Times: ?It is a horrible gate, even the sign on it is wrong, it says, ?Close the ate.? ?It is at an entrance to Dartmoor National Park and is the access road to get to the cricket club, and on Sunday around 50 cars had to stop each time. It was embarrassing.? He added that he talked to some cricketers from outside the town and they said that Tavistock was a lovely town but something had to be done about the access to its cricket club. ?It is not a good advert for the town,? added Mr Bennett. He asked the Times if anything could be done to improve it ? or even a cattle grid installed. Roger Howard, the town clerk for Tavistock Town Council, told the Times: ?We are constantly repairing that gate as it gets a great deal of use. ?A suggestion by one member of the public to replace it by a cattle grid was put to all the local residents back in 2000 and voted down by the vast majority. ?They did not want the noise, and felt that sheep etc were wily enough to be able to get over a grid. ?Without local support the councillors will not change the gate. The road is anyway very narrow there, and if it was a cattle grid how would horses or horse-drawn vehicles get through? We will check over the gate again.?
