YOUR front page headline ?Town council is urged don?t let the hall go? with the accompanying excellent report is indicative of the strong feelings aroused in a ?record? attendance at Okehampton?s Annual Town Assembly. I have yet to meet anyone in the town who is actually in favour of this controversial decision and I am sure that individual councillors must now have grave misgivings on their decision to lease the market hall to Merlin Cinemas of Cornwall. It will destroy part of Okehampton?s heritage for ever! I therefore,with the backing of so many people, have written to the mayor, the town clerk and each of the other 12 councillors with the request that this matter is reconsidered at the next full council meeting or, even better, an extra meeting of the council is convened, with this being the only item on the agenda, so that full and deliberate discussions can be made. The councillors are now in possession of much more information than before and are also aware of the universal disquiet in the town. I trust Okehampton Town Council will give Okehampton people a further detailed discussion on this contentious and universally unpopular decision, as councillors must surely realise that they should represent the views of the people in this town. On a positive note, it was a pleasure to hear Jeffe Cunliffe, a former councillor and mayor, pay tribute to the outstanding work carried out by retiring mayor Tony Leech in the last two years and this was so heartily endorsed by everyone in the room. Likewise, when the town clerk announced that Frances Luxton was the mayor-elect, she was given a spontaneous standing ovation, which illustrates how popular this appointment was. I hope you will be able to publish this letter from a person who has no vested interested but just the good of the town I live in and cherish so much. Mrs Edna Hicks 58 The Heathers, Okehampton
