I ATTENDED a recent town council meeting where I asked David Nation if the Crediton residents had been consulted about a teen shelter? He replied that he had consulted the youth service and their outreach workers but couldn't consult everybody!
Of course, the town councillors could get the views of Crediton residents should they really want to. As I suggested to them at the meeting, each councillor could simply go to Morrisons and ask 100 people each, being representative of Crediton residents (rather than youth workers), what they thought of having a teen shelter in their town.
Now, David Nation claims (Courier letters February 19) he has conducted many surveys with local people, where their main concern was lack of facilities for teenagers.
I have received several notes from local residents thanking me for pointing out in my letter that Crediton teenagers have plenty to do and several other residents have stopped me on the street to say they also agree, one of them offering to buy me TWO pints of beer when he sees me in the pub!
I have yet to meet even one Crediton resident (apart from councillors) whose main concern in life is the lack of facilities for teenagers in Crediton which are, as David states, "excellent" in this town.
This looks to me like the beginning of spin and the obsession of the town council to build a teen shelter, regardless of the cost or benefit to the people of Crediton. Perhaps they could let us know exactly how many teenagers would benefit?
I would be amazed if it is more than a dozen. And what is this teen shelter going to cost? Will it be another £80,000?!
Thousands of pounds on a handful of kids who just want to "hang around".
Personally, I would rather the money went to the church fund.
Not long ago, some of the current town council members voted to sell off a car park to fund the town square and some of those same councillors are now trying to solve the car parking problem in Crediton that they themselves created!
Will this town council sell off another car park to fund their teen shelter?
Several years ago I passed a file to a town councillor (Liberal Democrat) about a small town in Northeast England (population 8,000) that decided to improve their high street and submit it as a candidate for the Best High Street in Britain Award, which they subsequently won.
This Award resulted in national media coverage increasing profits for local businesses and gaining recognition for their high street and their town.
Apparently nothing has been done with it as these things are not the main concern of our town council!
There are many visible, practical, and inexpensive projects that our town councillors could champion to enhance the appearance of Crediton.
I am sure that many of the town's residents could suggest ideas to help solve the town's problems and improve the town.
For example, a huge blue and white parking sign could easily be attached to the Liberal Democrats building on St Saviour's Way to help direct people to the car park that still remains.
Another suggestion is that those ugly steel park benches and bins in the town square could easily be painted green to soften up the appearance of the town square.
Here's hoping that common sense prevails!
Michael Szabo
By email