WITH reference to the letter from Ken Porcher in last week?s Okehampton Times, I would really like to take issue with some of his comments regarding the Moorcroft Inn, Exeter Road.
The building may be old, but so are most of the properties in Okehampton (it is an old town) and the structure is sound. The inside has been vandalised to some degree, but nothing that cannot easily be rectified.
The outside of the building, and surrounding land, can with a little imagination and hard work, be transformed into an attractive area. A few hanging baskets, flower tubs, landscaped gardens, children?s area; the list is endless.
The inn is ideally situated to cater for people travelling on down to Cornwall, or ?up-country?, being just a few minutes off the A30, with easy access in either direction, and there is a decent sized car park.
We know that there is lots of support to keep the Moorcroft, it is the only social facility at that end of the town, and we have lots of ideas to bring to this venture, with the intention of making this a real family business for families to enjoy.
Having done some research into the situation, we find that bed and breakfast accommodation in Okehampton is still needed, and that breweries would be interested in supporting the re-vitalising of a once flourishing business that was deliberately run down.
Betty Cottles, at the other end of town, is viable, with no housing or industrial premises in the immediate vicinity.
So, well done, West Devon Borough Council, for considering the social aspects. Could I ask if some of the opposition is the NIMBY syndrome?
Jan Hazell
39 New Road
Okehampton
IN answer to the letter last week from a Mr Ken Porcher regarding the Moorcroft Inn.
May I say, excuse me sir, but isn?t the reason you want to see the Moorcroft Inn pulled down because you think that a pub so close to your house might lower the tone of the development on which you live?
Or, perhaps because the developer promised you a nice leafy suburb on the edge of a quiet Devon market town, even though permission to pull the pub down had not been granted.
The pub might look very run down at the moment, but, having lived here for three years I have seen the Moorcroft as a hive of activity. For many of us at this end of town it was our ?village pub?.
Like me, he possibly moved here to get away from the ?rat race? and out of the ?fast lane?. There is no better way to make new friends and meet the locals than in the local pub.
I?ll even buy Mr Porcher ?s first pint!
David Luckhurst
1 Crocken Tor Road
Okehampton