LOTS of issues have come up on the doorstep dur- ing the Lawrence Ward by-election.

Whatever the result, there is a strong sense that the Town Council could and should be delivering more for local people. It is clear that we need change.

We need different peo- ple representing the vot- ers with new ideas and the energy to push them through. And we need proper elections, not co-op- tions.

The precept for a Band D house in Crediton is now over £70; that’s money that we all pay into the Town Council. This figure has risen considerably over the last few years.

The council’s budget has risen to £193,000 for this year and is projected to rise to £200,000 next year.

That’s a lot of money and yet it has been decided that a reserve of £50,000 will be maintained - mon- ey that won’t be spent - and that, conversely, the council wants the precept to rise again.

The council wants more money but hasn’t even spent the money it has available. That makes no sense.

Even worse, the council has an underspend, which means that its general re- serve is growing. Indeed, this year I believe that the underspend is £20,000.

A considerable percent- age of our Town Coun- cil money goes on staff wages.

In modern Britain we tend to find that councils like raising taxes and em- ploying more bureaucrats but how does this help us? The answer is not much.

This money is not being used for frontline services. Yes, small grants are given to community organisa- tions but it is clear that more could and should be done.

The toilets on St Law- rence Green were shut recently much to local people’s disappointment.

It is now clear that the Town Council could have afforded to keep this vital facility open but chose not

to do so.

My suggestion is that

we re-open the toilets and staff them with commu- nity volunteers. I already have six volunteers who are willing to help and although some local coun- cillors want to turn the building, valued at £7,500 by Mid Devon District Council, into a “council store”, I think that we can do better.

Apparently,atthemeet- ing where it was final- ly agreed that the toilets should be shut (due to high water bills of all things) certain councillors sug- gested that local people needing a toilet should “use the local Wether- spoons”.

This sort of lazy think- ing is not acceptable. I believe that with some volunteer help and local support we can succeed.

Then there is the vexed issue of traffic on Land- score.

This is an ongoing dis- aster and despite us hav- ing a county councillor on the Highways Committee nothing has been done.

I have spoken to lots of people in the area and all agree that, once again, more should be done. There has already been one awful tragedy at the top of Threshers and this should have been enough to wake our local repre- sentatives up.

In this one issue alone we see a complete failure at every level of power, Town, District and County Council.

In fact it is only since I started campaigning about this two weeks ago that, as if by magic, the issue once again appeared in Liberal Democrat elector- al material.

This kind of jump- ing on the bandwagon is typical behaviour but it is neither effective rep- resentation of electors nor any sort of recognisable leadership.

It comes down to this; on Thursday, December 1, local voters have an oppor- tunity to make a change and make a difference and I hope they will take it.

It might be that this

message has not come through clearly enough yet but voters may rest assured that I shall be putting myself forward for election every time a vacancy arises because I believe that together we can really do better.

Tim Matthews Independent Candidate for Lawrence Ward Hawthorn Road Crediton • Editor’s note: Crediton Town Council has a legal obligation to hold a

general revenue reserve. It is paying £12,000 to £13,000 each year towards keeping the Mid Devon District Council-owned toilets open at Newcombes Meadow and Market

Street.

There was little objec-

tion to closing the toilets at St Lawrence Green, a decision made by Mid Devon District Council not Crediton Town Council.

The Town Council is working with Mid Devon District Council to re-clas- sify the toilets at New- combes Meadow so that in the future it may not have to pay rates on the toilets.

The Town Council has been working on the issue of parking in the Land- score area for some years.

The precept was raised to enable the Town Coun- cil to pay towards youth provision in the town, this year at a cost of £9,000.

Crediton Town Council is also paying for some highway grass cutting, that was previously paid for by Mid Devon District Council and Devon County Council.

Saying this, the Town Council general revenue is not rising.

The Town Council obviously needs staff to function. Both of the full-time staff at Crediton Town Council are fully and highly qualified and hold Certificates in Local Gov- ernment Administration.