WEST Devon Borough Council is willing to revise a sports scheme on the edge of Simmons Park in Okehampton if the town feels the 60-year-old centrepiece pavilion should stay.

The council is due to submit the £3-million project for a sports hall and swimming pool for lottery funding next month and needs a decision as soon as possible.

Mayor Christine Marsh is asking residents to write to her at the town hall with their views in the next week on whether the pavilion should stay or go.

In the current plans that are going forward for lottery funding the pavilion sits in the way of the access to the proposed swimming pool and the intention was to get rid of it.

But at a recent public meeting to discuss sports facilities in the town people were concerned about losing the pavilion which had been there since 1937 and had provided refreshments for visitors to the park.

Deputy chief executive of West Devon Borough Council David Inman told town councillors this week the scheme could be revised if they wished the pavilion to be retained — but it would mean people having to walk a slightly longer route to the pool.

The retention of the pavilion would also depend on the structural condition of it, he said.

Alternatively, refreshment facilities could be provided in the swimming pool area, the meeting was told.

Cllr Marsh said the pavilion was desperately in need of refurbishment and it would cost in the region of £50,000.

'It can be retained and we would look to different funding sources to provide that money if that is what the people want,' she said.

Cllr Marsh said a bandstand had been removed some years ago because it was underused and once it had gone people complained.

'If that pavilion goes, in years to come people will talk about it as a lost amenity. It is part of the recreational area of the park.'

The town council will be having an extraordinary meeting to discuss the issue of the pavilion but Cllr Marsh said it was important the residents had their say.

'We are there to represent them and we need to know their views,' she said. 'It is their town and they must have an input.'

She said the pavilion was used for children's birthday parties and provided toilets.

'There are changing facilities there for people using the putting green, bowling club and so on,' she added. 'We could put a shower in there if there was a demand for it.'