Okehampton Hamlets Parish Council has announced this week (February 13) that it will oppose the town council’s petition to alter the parish boundaries.

In a council meeting last week, Okehampton Hamlets councillors agreed that they would not accept the proposal as submitted to West Devon Borough Council which is set to review the petition in a meeting next week (February 21).

In a press release, an Okehampton Hamlets Parish Council spokesperson, said: ‘Okehampton Hamlets Parish Council (OHPC) have submitted their initial views on the petition presented by Okehampton Town Council requesting changes to the parish boundaries of Okehampton and Okehampton Hamlets.

‘A formal review process will take place which will include consultation with OHPC residents. OHPC are not in favour of the proposals as submitted, and they will be communicating and discussing the reasons for this with their residents in the near future. sIn the meantime, OHPC residents are encouraged to discuss the situation with any of the Hamlets councillors should they wish to.’

In response to the announcement, Okehampton Town Councillor Christine Marsh said she was unable to comment on the specifics, as the Hamlets has not yet explained the reasons for its opposition, but described the news as ‘disappointing’ as she had hoped that the two Okehampton councils might start to work together more closely.

She said: ‘I’m disappointed that they’re not working closer with us to look at what is the best for the town. We don’t want to take over we don’t want all this.

‘We would rather the two councils work together and join forces — half the councillors are Hamlets people and half the council are town people. That’s what we really wanted. We just wanted to work together and share.

‘We’ve been trying very hard of late, to work with them. We’re working with them now to do a celebration in July in the park and we had a meeting and it was lovely having them there and contributing.’

Traditionally, Okehampton Town Council has had responsibility for the more urbanised areas in the centre of the town and the Hamlets has focused on governing the rural outskirts, with the town continuing to grow, the town council has stated that the boundaries be reviewed in order to reflect the changing face of the town.

The town council has argued that Hamlets’ residents should also pay for the facilities available in the town centre, which includes the public toilets, skate park, cemetery and Simmons Park, as they are used as much by them as town residents and has also pointed out that many Hamlets’ residents think that it is the town council which governs the eastern side of Okehampton which is not the case.

As part of the petition, town councillors have proposed that the number of councillors be kept at its current 14 but that the area governed be increased to include more of the eastern side of town which is becoming more urbanised.

The town council has also proposed that the ward boundaries be removed so that all councillors serve the whole of Okehampton rather than specific areas of it.

In August last year, Okehampton Hamlets Parish Council said it would not consider a boundary review, unless there was a West Devon-wide community governance review, stating that Okehampton was no different to any other town and could not be reviewed in isolation.

Hamlets clerk Jane Gillard, said: ‘Okehampton is no different to many other towns all over the country, housing developments are happening nationally. Just because towns are expanding does not necessarily mean historical parish boundaries need to be reviewed, particularly in isolation.’