A REQUEST to hold a motor show on Bedford Square was turned down flat by councillors in Tavistock last week.
Car firm Honda approached the town council, which manages bookings on the paved area of the square, and offered them £100 a day to use it as an outdoor showroom.
Cllr Norma Woodcock was astounded at the request. 'I find it perverse in the extreme,' she said.
'Having cleared parked cars from in front of the town hall, which was one of the main purposes of the enhancement, we then actually take the shekels to put other people in front of it — I'm speechless!'
Cllr Judith Williams said to grant such a request would be 'fraught' with problems.
'If I was hiring the town hall for a wedding I would be none too pleased,' she said.
Cllr Betty Batchelor said one of the main reasons people favoured the enhancement of Bedford Square was so they could sit there and enjoy themselves.
She said if the council granted the request, there would be nothing to stop any group of people who wanted to park on the square approaching the council and asking how much they had to pay.
And Cllr Robin Pike pointed out the pannier market had been used for motor shows in the past.
But Cllr Roger Mathew liked the idea of seeing the car show on the square, which he claimed had been 'desecrated' by last year's enhancement scheme.
Town clerk Roger Howard said the car firm had used the square for a similar purpose last year, which had been arranged via a third party
'Honda were quite happy to pay £100 a time to us,' he said, adding that although the square does get booked, it was 'not being used as it could be'.
Col Howard will now write to Honda and offer the company use of the pannier market for a car show.
The Bedford Square enhancement scheme was completed last summer. It involved extending the paved area in front of the town hall, removing parking places and reducing four lanes of traffic through the town centre to two.