I WOULDN?T dream of telling our councillors how they should do their job, but I would ask them to reconsider their plans to close our Market Hall. I can well remember Okehampton ? this market town, filled with bustling happy people. On a Saturday the buses came in from outlying districts bringing in scores of people ? probably hundreds. Almost everything wanted could be bought in the market, and of course the shopkeepers were busy. The public were only too happy to come to Okehampton to do their shopping and of course spend their money here. During the past few years those of us who have lived in and loved Okehampton have watched with great sadness the changes that have made the town almost unrecognisable. Would it not be prudent for the powers that be to investigate how other towns have got thriving markets, and it must be said the shops in those towns benefit too. It seems to me at least that Okehampton needs to become more people-friendly, and this means we need to address our car and bus parking. Closing our market hall and putting in a three-screen cinema is not the answer, and I fear will do nothing to enhance the status of the town. We did have a cinema which with modernisation would have been ideal. It is a sad fact that those who want this ?three-screen cinema? will only support it when they want to, no-one will go to see a film so that the project is successful. By closing our market hall, the heritage of Okehampton ?Market Town? will be lost, and will never return. I, along with everyone who has signed petitions, and written letters and voiced objections to the closure of the market, and all those who are silent protesters, ask the councillors to reconsider their proposals. Mrs Edna Hicks 58 The Heathers Okehampton
