OKEHAMPTON Hamlets Parish Council has agreed to hold its share of council tax precept at the level which has applied for the last three years. Councillors at the final meeting of the year were pleased to be in a position to again be able to freeze the council tax precept. Councillors felt that while county and district rates were likely to rise, the amount sought by the Hamlets should not, and that prudence should be maintained. This year, the council also doubled the grant it made to Okehampton Chamber of Trade to £200 towards the continuation of the town?s Christmas lights. The parish council held its final meeting of the year on December 7, at Meldon Village Hall. Chairman Derek Webber welcomed two guest speakers, PC Dave Methven and Ian Brooker of Dartmoor National Park Authority. PC Methven explained to members his role as Neighbourhood Beat Manager for the council?s area and answered questions asked by councillors about their concerns. He was keen to stress the need to maintain an active dialogue because much media comment is made about the lack of resources and the elected representatives are often the ones who have to explain to their parishioners the reasons for this. Mr Brooker advised the council on rules and regulations stemming from the council?s large land holdings at Meldon with Quarry Park and the Bluebell Wood area. The council is in the process of establishing a management policy which will control the activities of all visitors to protect the area from vehicular and other incursions by erosion and to maintain conservation measures to protect the flora and fauna in this part of Devon. The meeting continued with the consideration of local planning applications and a report was presented by Cllr Derek Godfrey-Brown on West Devon Borough Council?s recent meetings at which relocation of certain office functions was discussed. It was not, he stressed, an intention to make contact with the public more difficult. The buildings at Oaklands Drive would be vacated and the original proposal to move to the police station was being aborted as a result of costs tripling from some £300,000 to around £1-million. Mr Godfrey-Brown reported that the borough said other accommodation would be acquired which would be fully accessible by all sections of the community in accordance with all pertinent changes needed under disability access legislation.