An Okehampton councillor urged residents to alert councillors personally to any issues rather than posting them online, following an unsuccessful councillor surgery session last week (January 20).

Cllrs Jan Goffey and Deborah Sanger hosted Okehampton’s first trial councillor surgery session last Thursday in the hope of encouraging people to approach councillors with any concerns, but were disappointed when residents failed to attend.

Cllr Goffey said: ‘I appreciate that it was in the middle of a working day but if we held it in the evening or weekend that would involve extra caretaking.’

Extra security and health and safety checks would need to be arranged if councillors were to remain in the town hall outside opening hours, which would all cost money that the council could use for better community purposes, she argued.

Despite this, she was keen to emphasise that this did not mean councillors were unreachable to those who were unable to attend councillor surgeries.

She said: ‘If people can’t make it they can come to a council meeting - they are open to the public and we always leave time for members of the public to raise any issues.

‘Our phone numbers and email addresses are all online and we should always check our emails. I do.’

Cllr Goffey said she had noticed that many people turned towards Facebook as a platform to voice worries and complaints, but suggested that any issues could get resolved faster and more effectively if residents were to contact their local councillors instead.

There is currently an ongoing housing crisis in West Devon and residents are struggling to find affordable housing to buy or rent.

Many people have posted pleas online in the hopes of finding a place to live.

Yet Cllr Goffey explained that the local councillors may be able to assist people in trouble and said she herself had recently helped a woman find much-needed sheltered accommodation.

Cllr Goffey suggested that there were misconceptions over the agenda of councillors and insisted all councillors were there to help residents in their parish.

Some residents had previously complained to her that many councillors had business interests in the town that they were unwilling to compromise for the benefit of the community.

‘Some people think that people on the council have business interests in the town and look after their own and don’t realise that at this level we are unpaid volunteers,’ she added. ‘Nobody has vested interests in the town, we do it because we want the best,’ she said.

As yet there are no plans to scrap monthly councillor surgeries and the next one is scheduled for February 17 between 10am-12pm.

It is necessary to book an appointment which can be done either in-person or virtually.

To book a slot or for more information contact the council’s office on 01837 53179 or email [email protected].