THE town council in?Okehampton is looking to improve engagement with the community after a low turnout for the annual town assembly on Monday night.

Around ten people showed up for the meeting at the Charter Hall, which offers the public the chance to question the council and share their views on how the town is being run.

The evening took a similar format to last year's event, with three presentations on Okehampton's present, work going on for its future, and an insight into the workings of the property committee, which is responsible for all council property, including the town hall and Charter Hall.

Creating community interest in the workings of the council has proved difficult, with the authority still searching for a new councillor to fill a vacant seat.

Mayor Maureen McDonald said: 'For a while now it has been difficult to engage with the community about what we do. We need people to tell us what they think of how we are working, and raise issues that affect them.

'That is what the town assembly is for, to raise those issues so we can look at them. We also want to get younger people involved.'

During his presentation, Cllr Kevin Ball discussed how the council's Destination Okehampton working group has shown that community spirit is alive and well in the town: 'Destination Okehampton is looking at how we can regenerate and improve the town. Engagement with the community for this process is vital. We still need input from the community.

'For Destination Okehampton, we ran a number of sessions and have now carried out a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. As a result of those working meetings, we now have a great pile of data to go through.

'We are town councillors, but it is your town. Community involvement is vital. What thrilled me is that faith groups, local businesses, local people from Government and members of the public were all giving their input, and bringing lots of passion to go forward. We need to keep that going.'

During his presentation on the property committee, Cllr Tony Leech revealed that the council is looking to refurbish the Charter Hall throughout December 2013 into January 2014.

The council has slowly saved money for the project over a number of years, which will include works to make the building meet fire safety regulations.

The council will call a meeting of organisations that use the hall to discuss their needs when using the building.

Cllr Paul Vachon used slides to show Okehampton's past and contrast it with its present state. Other issues discussed included dog fouling and theft of signs in the park.