THE LEADER of Devon County Council promised to 'take into account' the views of local people expressed at last Thursday's public meeting on council spending cuts.

Around 90 people attended the meeting in Okehampton's Charter Hall to question Cllr John Hart and give their own suggestions on where the axe should fall.

The meeting was the penultimate stop of Cllr Hart's 15 town 'Tough Choices' roadshow, the biggest public consultation ever undertaken by the county council.

The campaign follows the recent Government Spending Review which saw almost 20% slashed from local government budgets, meaning Devon County Council must make around £100-million in savings over the next four years.

Cllr Hart opened by saying: 'I make no secret: the next few years will not be easy. This is your chance to have your say. Your views will be listened to.'

A board game based on Monopoly challenged people to save £50-million from the council's budget, and many found it difficult to come to a decision.

Jackie Wolstenholme from West Devon Community and Voluntary Services said: 'The problem we're finding is that there is an impact to every decision we make.

'What might at first seem an easy target for cuts soon turns out to be an essential service when you look more closely.'

A common observation was that there seemed to be a great deal of synergy between many sections of the budget. Local resident Brian Thomas said: 'It's very difficult to cut the services themselves, but we do want to cut the amount of back-room admin being duplicated across the council. It would be interesting to see how much money amalgamation of similar services could save.'

When asked about the feasibility of this suggestion, Cllr Hart said: 'This is something we are certainly looking into. At the moment our hands are tied because of the policies put in place by the previous government, but we're now working on the assumption that we will soon have the freedom to consider such changes.

'We want a more efficient and joined up service for the people of Devon.'

A number of young people were present, and youth worker Cassie de Courcy from Devon Youth Service's Room 13 in Okehampton said: 'It's vital that young people are heard. After all, they won't be young people forever and any cuts could affect them both now and in the future.'

Okehampton town councillor Michael Ireland later questioned Cllr Hart on the long-term social and economic costs of any cuts, although felt his question was not adequately answered.

Cllr Hart agreed that every cut would have an impact, but said: 'We have to get more services for our money than at present, we need to be smarter about what we do.'

Previous meetings across Devon had been attended by a vocal group decrying the cuts, but the meeting in Okehampton was characterised more by a quiet acceptance that the cuts are necessary.

The consultation efforts of the county council were even praised by some at the meeting. Colin Coleman, a local resident, told the Times: 'Cllr Hart has answered our questions explicitly. The sheer process of consultation and the council getting out of their offices has defused a lot of anger I felt towards the council.'

Earlier in the afternoon, Cllr Hart had attended a special meeting of the Devon Heartlands Community Forum. The secretary of the forum, Ewan Rae, said: 'We now feel better informed about the decisions being made, and hopefully the leader feels better informed about the views of people in the area.'

Okehampton town councillor and former mayor Kay Bickley said the consultation was worthwhile: 'In Okehampton we believe in democracy, not benign dictatorship. After the recent debacle over parking in the town, it's good that John Hart is out of the office and seeing the local issues.

'Having said that, I'm not fooled into thinking they've not already thought through where they are going to prune and chop spending. This exercise is definitely a good thing, provided the council is actually listening and not just ticking the boxes.'

A total of £30-million has already been slashed from the budget through a number of austerity measures, recruitment freezes and high level pay and allowance cuts.