A TOWN manager could be the linchpin needed to bring plans for Okehampton together before it misses out on an opportunity to bring millions of pounds into the area.

Speaking to the Okehampton Times this week town mayor Christine Marsh said a regeneration project for the Okehampton area was in danger of collapsing unless someone was appointed to co-ordinate the whole thing.

Okehampton was one of seven market towns in Devon identified by the South West Regional Development Agency last spring to receive cash under the multi-million pound Market and Coastal Towns Initiative.

But while others are close to presenting community action plans for funding, Okehampton still has a long way to go.

Cllr Marsh said the town was ?desperately lagging behind? everyone else: ?If we are not careful we could miss out on this opportunity.

?The locality group in Okehampton has disbanded and people seem to have lost the momentum to keep going.?

The mayor said no-one was to blame because there was only so much spare time people had to dedicate to the initiative, but almost 12 months on from a successful community day, where opinions and ideas on the future of Okehampton were collected from hundreds of local residents, nothing had moved forward.

?Okehampton is a service town for a huge area and with it growing in such a dramatic way we need someone in-post who is paid to co-ordinate the regeneration plans and attract new business to the town,? she said.

?When I go to meetings in the area and see how surrounding towns and villages are progressing with really exciting plans I feel Okehampton is being left behind. We should be taking the lead not standing in the background.?

There was an underlying apathy which Okehampton had failed to shake and despite attempts by the mayor to generate enthusiasm, she has admitted she cannot do it alone.

?I attend as many meetings as I can, but there is only so much I can do ? a town manager is an idea being supported by the town council and we believe there is funding out there to make it happen.?

Expanding the market and creating an outdoor market, street cafes and entertainment, improving rail travel and attracting new businesses and shops are some of the ideas in the pipeline to take Okehampton into the future.

?I have said before that we have a lovely town with lots of potential, but it has taken quite a few knocks? she said.

?Everybody struggled after foot and mouth and it is not a wealthy area anyway, but we need to get some enthusiasm back and this is what a dynamic town manager could do.?

The man who is co-ordinating Hatherleigh?s Market and Coastal Town Initiative Charles Coffin has been brought in temporarily to try and help bring the Okehampton scheme back from the brink.

He said Okehampton had quite a bit of catching up to do but the plan was to bring in some consultants to make sense of the data collected at the community day last November so an action plan could start to come together.

?Okehampton is faced with a real dilemma because it needs support to take the scheme forward, but if nothing appears to be happening people become disenchanted with the whole thing,? he said.

Mr Coffin is supporting the idea for a co-ordinator or town manager: ?There has been a huge gap since the community day and perhaps the bullet should have been bitten earlier, but we are trying are best to bring it back on track.?

Press officer for the South West Regional Development Agency John Taignton said M&CTI was a very important priority for the agency but it was not a case of just sitting there with a bag of money waiting to dish it out.

He said: ?The emphasis is on local communities to organise themselves and prepare a plan which will take them into the next 20 years.

?We provide money to help this process happen and then take them to the brokering table to find the major funding they need to implement the plan.

?It is a case of towns completing their side of the bargain before we can move forward.?