CONCERNS have been raised over 'grandiose' plans for a replacement hall in Meldon which opponents' claim will 'tear the guts out' of the hamlet.

But the village hall committee says the 'small increase' in the size from 185sqm to 247sqm is down to health and safety regulations which dictate additional facilities such as a disabled toliets.

Committee members were thrilled when the lottery shone on Meldon in April and £232,276 was awarded for a hall to replace the existing 70-year-old dilapidated building — but resident Stuart Plant said there were 'more deserving cases' for the money.

'I have no problems with a small village hall but what's in this plan is horrendous,' he said.

'It appears that parking for 25 vehicles is the national criteria for a hall catering for 200 people — this may be fine in somewhere like Bridestowe where 50 per cent of people walk to it but in Meldon there are only seven or so residents and everybody else will be using a car.

Mr Plant said the hall was supposed to be for the whole of the Okehampton Hamlets but the rest of the hamlets were on the other side of Okehampton.

'The majority of the hamlets population have to drive through all the facilities in Okehampton to get here. It is ecologically unsound.'

'The lottery money has been given for something that is not going to be for the good of this particular community at all.

'The grandiose plans that have been produced show a huge hall — a monster — which will tear the guts out of this little place.'

Resident Liz St George said: 'There could be 100 cars coming to Meldon and only parking space for 25 — it is totally ridiculous.

'It is a lovely design but inappropriate for a place of this size — the Okehampton showground in the middle of the hamlets would have been ideal.

'Halls in the centre of populations should have priority for lottery funding — but projects in Okehampton did not get anything.'

Chairman of the village hall committee Courtney Heard said a feasibility study had been done and 95 per cent of Okehampton Hamlets were in favour of having a new hall.

'We wanted a hall the same size as the existing one and that is basically what we have got but in order to meet health and safety standards we had to add on an extra bit for disabled toilets,' he said.

Mr Heard said a lot of the events would involve 20 or 30 people but if extra car parking was needed there was enough room for 45 cars in a nearby field, which had been used in the past for larger events.

'Everybody has worked so hard to get a new hall here and hours and hours have been spent doing business assessments so we can run the hall after it is built. I am surprised about the concerns because no-one has come to me.'

Support for the new hall has been given by Okehampton Hamlets Parish Council. Chairman Dudley Luxton said concerns about insufficient car spaces had been addressed by Mr Heard by agreeing the use of a field across the road as an overflow car park.

Five letters of objection to the plan have been received by Dartmoor National Park. The proposal is likely to be considered on September 1.