A TUG of war looks set to develop between the committees of Okehampton Town Council over how a six-figure windfall from supermarket chain Waitrose will be spent in the town.
Under a profit-sharing scheme set up five years ago, Okehampton Town Council and West Devon Borough Council receive a share of any turnover bonus if the supermarket exceeds a yearly target.
Following last year?s trading, Okehampton Town Council has received a bonus income of just over £100,000 from Waitrose ? double the amount the town council received last summer.
Councillors at the full council meeting on Monday were divided between those who wished to see the total bonus of £103,537 spent on further enhancements in Simmons Park and those who felt it would be better spent on major repair works on the council?s deteriorating buildings.
However, councillors appeared to rule out spending the money on reducing the council tax precept.
Cllr Mike Davies said: ?As a council we have to commit ourselves to keep the precept down.?
But he said he believed using the bonus to reduce the precept for the coming year would only store up problems for future years when it would invariably have to go back up again.
Cllr Davies, as chairman of the council?s properties committee, was keen to see a significant proportion of the money spent on repairs to the council?s civic buildings, which a recent report revealed required expensive dry rot and asbestos work as well as more long-term maintenance.
Cllr Charles Letchford said he would like to see the bulk of the money spent on parklands enhancement projects.
?I think taking the money off the precept would be a grave mistake. In three years? time, if people ask us what we did with this money and we say we lowered the precept, they will shrug their shoulders.
?If we can spend it on something specific, we have got something we can point to. If you split the sum up, you lose the immediate effect.?
Cllr Letchford added that spending the cash on Simmons Park would benefit everyone in the Okehampton area.
?A lot of the money that goes into Waitrose comes from people who live in the Okehampton Hamlets area.
?Putting the precept down would only benefit the town residents, whereas the park is used by people from outside the town,? he said.
Cllr Frances Luxton believed the priority should be on tackling expensive maintenance work needed on the council?s buildings.
?At the end of the day, the council?s buildings appear to be in a poor state of repair. I think we would be very out of order if we fail to protect the fabric of our buildings,? she said.
Cllr Luxton asked exactly what the money would be spent on at the park, as some funding from outside bodies had already been identified for the provision of apavilion and children?s play equipment.
When the parks committee meets later this month, it will have costings for some of the proposed enhancements in Simmons Park.
Cllr Pat Snell raised the issue of whether the Waitrose windfall could be used to resurrect the project to provide a children?s paddling pool which was previously scrapped by some members who thought the project unnecessary.
Mayor of Okehampton Tony Leech urged councillors to think carefully before deciding where the money should be spent.
He said: ?I am sure the town will be looking at us to see we spend it as wisely as possible. We have to be very careful how we spend this.?
The parks and properties committee appears to be on a collision course over where the bonus income can be spent ?when the full council meets again next month, each camp is likely to argue it has the greater need for the full amount.
Okehampton town clerk Don Bent acknowledged the division between the councillors presented a problem which needed to be worked at.
?Both committees have got to identify their priorities, work out the costs of those priorities and put in bids to the next full council meeting,? he said.
West Devon Borough Council?s share of this year?s Waitrose bonus will be spent supporting the operation of Okehampton?s new sports centre, which is due to open later this year.