DEVON County Council says there are ?no plans in the short term? to close the Okehampton Local Services Group office at Brayhams in North Street, despite a restructuring of some of the authority?s local traffic and road services. Devon County Councillors have promised closely to monitor changes the council is introducing to centralise the administration of local transport services to three offices. Devon County has announced it is moving to centralise from eight local service offices to three covering the whole of the county ? the new centres will be at Newton Abbot, Exeter and Barnstaple, under which Okehampton will now fall. Lester Wilmington, head of highways management for Devon County Council, said local people would not notice a change in the service they received. He said: ?We are still committed to delivering a local service and maintaining the links with town and parish councils. The reorganisation will enable us to use new technology, enabling people to work smarter.? Mr Wilmington said there were no plans to close the Brayhams office in the short term, but the county council did not know what the future would be and would have to continue to look at the best way of using its resources to provide the best service. He said the council had been through a process of voluntary redundancies, but the restructuring would also protect a number of jobs. County Councillor for Okehampton Rural Christine Marsh said she and the other three West Devon councillors had been given the ?assurance that the changes are not going to affect the service local people receive.? She said they would be monitoring the situation to see if the centralised scheme did work for the residents of Okehampton and the surrounding area. ?I cannot fault the service they have given us, up to now,? said Mrs Marsh, who added she hoped good working links could be maintained under the restructured system. Cllr James McInnes, who represents the Hatherleigh and Chagford area, backed Cllr Marsh?s position. He said: ?We have got to keep a close eye on the changes. It is important that parish councils still have good contacts with those in office.? Cllr McInnes said there had been a ?good relationship? between the general public and the technicians who tackled the problems on the ground, and he hoped this could be maintained. He added: ?Something we will have to keep a close watch on in West Devon is that the north of the borough will be covered by the Barnstaple office while Tavistock and the south of the borough will fall under Newton Abbott. ?We will need to ensure that we get a good service for the whole of West Devon.?
