I WRITE with reference to your article in the Times (October 5) entitled 'Town starts to pay back that massive loan'. In reading this and attending the meeting, my recollection of the essential and important points made, do not sit alongside those of your reporter.
This debate was started off by Cllr Peter Donkin, who very forcibly stressed that the approach by the council in preliminary discussions to determine the precept for next year should be on the basis that additional monies gathered through last year's precept was a 'loan' and if that 'loan' is not now required for the purpose, then those monies should be returned to the tax payer.
You only need to refer back to the election address released by Cllr Donkin at the time of the by-election in March of this year, where he clearly stated that it was his intention to fight for the return of those additional council tax monies to the tax payer.
Within the council, other councillors then picked up the theme of this being a loan, which only then is commented upon by your reporter. Please give some credit to Cllr Donkin for pursuing the fulfilment of a promise made by him to the council tax payers of Tavistock, a commitment to a purpose not always evident in local politics.
Roy Connelly
Tavistock town councillor
l Tavistock mayor Judith Williams made a similar point in a letter to the Times. Mr Donkin's comments were, in fact, reported, but were removed during
sub-editing due to pressure of space — Editor