A PROPOSAL to increase the duration of Tavistock Goose Fair and throw out 'tat' stalls was rejected by councillors last week.

A review of Goose Fair 2000 and ideas for future fairs was drawn up by Tavistock Town Council after discussions with the Showman's Guild, the Market Traders Federation and Rowland's, who operate many of the fair rides.

The key gripe to come out of the review was the steady increase in rents, particularly those charged by West Devon Borough Council, which rose by 27.5 per cent last year.

Options suggested in the review included maintaining the status quo, introducing a policy of accepting stalls of a certain type and restricting fast food and 'tat' operations or increasing the duration of the fairground and Plymouth

Road stalls.

Other options were a reversal of the decision to increase charges by four per cent and encouraging the borough council to re-think their 'massive' charge increases which include VAT — which is not levied by the town council.

Cllr Ted Sherrell said Goose Fair should carry on in the same way.

'I see no reason to move away from this whatsoever. This report gives the impression that Goose Fair used to be peppered with Royal Doulton — it's always been tat!

'It's not a craft market, it's something unique. We have to let market forces decide what goes in, as long as it's legal and moral I see no reason to change anything we are doing.'

Cllr Ken Sanders agreed.

'If people want tat then they shall have tat,' he said.

But Cllr Sanders did not agree with the suggestion the fair should be increased in length.

He felt a week was long enough for most families with a finite amount of money to spend and it would not be practical for Plymouth Road to be closed for longer than a day.

Cllr Judith Williams said: 'I walked round and talked to lots of people. I got the impression most people were quite content to let the fair evolve as it has done.'

She said the use of Pixon Lane and the road by the TSB as a taxi rank was unpopular and recommended returning to the previous system, where taxis used the bus station.

Councillors agreed to maintain the Goose Fair status quo for the foreseeable future.

Town clerk Roger Howard said: 'We are going to continue with the agreement we have — our charges will go up by four per cent, we will continue to facilitate use of public land and we will offer to do the same for the borough, providing we don't make a loss on it.'