Last Friday, while working with the Sticklepath and Okehampton Conservation group (STOC) at the Ockment Centre, cleaning away shrubs and undergrowth from the front of the building, I was approached by members of the public and asked various questions, not only about the job in hand but also the following:

l Why is the town council removing all the greenery from the town?

l Why did the town council cut down the tree in the Red Lion Yard?

With regard to the work going on at the Ockment Centre, the decision was made by the Ockment Centre staff and trustees (nothing to do with the town council), to remove plant growth to give access to repair and maintain the structure of the building and bring in natural light to the ground floor offices.

The removal of the shrubs also made it possible to clear away what amounted to three very large bags of rubbish including beer bottles, cans, glass, paper, plastic and plastic bagged dog waste, all inaccessible before the clear up.

In answer to the second question, it was the decision of the owner of Red Lion Yard to have the top of the tree cut out after being told by a tree specialist that the tree was dying. Yet again, nothing to do with the town council.

I do find it sad that anything even slightly controversial is often blamed on the town council, and once a rumour starts, it is very difficult to put the record straight. Your duly elected town, borough and county councillors are only just a phone call away, or you can call into the town hall office if you wish to discuss local issues.

So much work goes on behind the scenes for local councillors, which members of the public could not even guess at. With that in mind I had intended to write to the Okehampton Times to make people aware of the cosmetic changes going on at the Ockment Centre but more important issues surrounding the possible changes at the hospital have been uppermost in my mind and have taken priority over everything else.

On behalf of the staff and trustees at the Ockment Centre, I would like to thank the team from STOC for yet again assisting with the clean up there. They work very professionally as a team without any fuss, and the amount of work that they manage to get through in such a short space of time is remarkable.

Tony Leech

Okehampton