YOUR report (November 14) of the difficulties experienced by Tavistock Town Council in getting authority for repairs to the town hall ceiling tolls a doleful memory.
A few years ago, when the council engaged contractors to eliminate damp and dry rot from Court Gate, English Heritage were equally obstructive and unrealistic. They insisted upon the old wall plaster being analysed and copied at great expense when modern plaster would have been unseen and, anyway, indistinguishable from the original.
They also insisted that a number of window spaces should remain blocked up, but authorised the present unsightly painting of the spaces.
All this in the name of preserving the historical integrity of the property. Had English Heritage existed in the 1930s would we now have electric lighting in the town hall and Court Gate?
Simon Thurley, the new chief executive of that head-in-the-sand quango declares that he wants to remove the impression that it always says ?No?. But will his message be heard and acted upon by his regional staff in the South West?
G Kirkpatrick
Parkwood Road, Tavistock