TAVISTOCK Town Council was described as a ?two-speed council? by a ratepayer at the authority?s annual meeting in the town hall last Tuesday.
Alex Wood questioned the mayor on what he called the ?two-speed? working of the council
He said it had been slow on moving the war memorial, repairing the town hall ceiling and giving back the tax rebate promised to the people of the town, but had ?moved with breakneck speed to commit £193,000 to the Drake Road offices?.
Mr Wood said many taxpayers in the town shared his view that the council?s actions on this issue were ?reckless?.
Only six members of the public turned out to quiz councillors at the meeting in what is an election year.
Mayor of Tavistock Cllr Marjorie Corner said the council had not rushed into a decision on Drake Road, and had been discussing the need to improve access to make the building more viable for several years.
Cllr Roger Mathew said the decision about repairing the Drake Road offices was taken after long debate 18 months ago.
He added: ?I am getting rather fed up by constantly fighting a rearguard action every time the process tries to move forward.?
Cllr Norma Woodcock said she was sure all the councillors shared Mr Wood?s frustration about the slower progress than had been hoped for in some areas of the council?s programme, but she said these were big projects which took time to go through the appropriate motions.
Cllr Woodcock said she also wanted to see the ceiling repairs undertaken soon, to restore the building to its ?pristine state?.
Other topics discussed included the possibility of the town council contributing 50/50 with the chamber of commerce towards the cost of ensuring the future of Christmas lighting in Tavistock.
In her introductory speech, Cllr Corner highlighted some of the major improvements the council had made in the facilities of the pannier market in the past year, including introducing new state of the art toilets and opening up the east end of the market.
Cllr Betty Batchelor, chair of the finance and general purposes committee, also introduced the annual statement on the town council?s financial affairs.