Call for town council to ‘stop grumbling’

Published: 12:09 PM July 18, 2011 Updated: 11:15 AM November 7, 2020

Regarding your article of July 6, ‘No case for village green complaint?’ Hasn’t Honiton Town Council grumbled on long enough about the registration of Littletown Green as a town green?

Its registration has, in fact, ensured that this important open space will be protected from development well into the future. The town council and its officials nevertheless continue to talk as if this is a loss rather than a gain for the town.

The unexpected bonus for the town has been that the Honiton Allotment Association has been spurred to do what the town council has been saying for many years can’t be done – found land that really is available for allotments. The town will therefore have the benefit of both a town green and allotments.

The town council is, however, still complaining that it was disadvantaged by the county council’s process of registering the green. As one of the applicants for the green, I was present at the county council’s meeting that decided the matter. The town’s deputy clerk and mayor represented the town at that meeting.

The county council’s video recording of the meeting very clearly shows the deputy town clerk agreeing that the town council had no objection to the county council going ahead and deciding the matter.