MEMBERS of the organising committee of Tavistock's Old Folk's Rest Room last week urged the town council to act swiftly regarding their move to their new premises at Court Gate.

The committee is waiting upon a town council decision on the rent for the new rest room, and whether it can help with some work to get the new premises operational.

The council has already told the old folk's committee that it needed its most recent accounts and that the matter would be brought up at the council's next finance meeting.

During the town's annual meeting last week, Denise Bacon, treasurer of the rest room committee, said a copy of the rest room accounts were always sent to the council at the end of the year.

'This year the auditors have all the documents and until they come back to us for our annual meeting, there isn't anything else we can do,' said Mrs Bacon.

'The accounts from last year and from previous years show exactly how we stand and there really should not be any delay,' she said.

Cllr Robin Pike said the council had already obtained planning permission for the old folk to move to Court Gate and had completed some preliminary work on the move.

Negotiations regarding the rent and any further work were due to take place very soon, he said.

'There are procedures to go through — it's not just a case of moving in and making a cup of tea,' said Cllr Pike.

'My council is taking on board the requirements of the rest room but these things take time,' he said.

Cllr Brian Trew said: 'This move involves town money. This is tax payers' money that will be paying for these facilities and we have a duty to the tax payer to ensure we do this properly.'

Cllr Trew said everyone wished to see the Old Folk's Rest Room properly established at its new base 'as quickly as possible' but when public money was concerned, it was 'absolutely essential' that procedures were followed correctly.

The rest room was due to be considered by the town council's finance committee at its meeting on Tuesday.