CLLR Garton?s additional public consultation for Tavistock and Okehampton residents is welcomed, (Letters, June 29) but the display in the pannier market was feeble. Five boards of big print and photographs were propped on one table, with two junior members of West Devon Borough Council staff present. There were no committee members in attendance to explain the committee?s thinking. Altogether, a disappointing outcome for democracy. The details of the consultation were even more shocking. Out of every five houses planned for West Devon, four will be in either Okehampton or Tavistock, the remaining one in the smaller settlements. Yet only one-third of West Devon?s population lives in Tavistock and Okehampton. Why are the smaller settlements being spared? The landscape of Okehampton and Tavistock are as equally precious as the villages. Tiny primary schools and shops/post pffices in our smaller settlements across West Devon are already under threat from falling school rolls and supermarkets. We need to revitalise the smaller communities, to prevent them becoming dormitories of second-homes and older couples. The borough?s core strategy consultation works against what we should be trying to achieve for these smaller communities. The national average of affordable housing is about 35% of what is built. The borough?s performance is almost exactly half that, around 18%. How can the borough achieve its targets set out in this consultation of 50% ? even 60% ? across West Devon, and plan where the housing is needed most? The performance of the borough until now gives no confidence they can ever be achieved. The plan to build more houses in Walkhampton where several would be ?affordable? is presently being resisted. The planned single ?affordable? home in Lydford was set aside. The Commission for Rural Communities recently recommended that there should be six ?affordable? new houses in every village to revitalise these communities. Low pay, second homes and local authority planning are cited as the obstacles to regeneration of our smaller communities. There is a lack of leadership at the borough to explain and develop our communities in a balanced way. Alex Wood 4 Kilworthy Hill Tavistock