A PLAN to safeguard the future of Okehampton’s Christmas lights and hanging baskets was thrashed out at an extraordinary meeting of Okehampton and District Chamber of Trade on Thursday night (November 1).

The audience, which included a number of shopkeepers, agreed to support a proposal to set up a Community Interest Company to take over responsibility for brightening up the town from the struggling chamber.

Chamber chairman Linda Harper told the crisis meeting at the Ockment Centre: ‘This would relieve the chamber of trade of some of its responsibilities and allow it the time to do things like business networking.’

She said the chamber membership had been ‘dwindling’ over the last two or three years and there was no longer the money to pay for events and hanging baskets.

However, concerns were raised that the real problem was a lack of volunteers to help put up Christmas lights and Christmas trees around the town and stage the Edwardian Evening and other events.

Jade Oliver-Deacon, who runs The Toy Shop in the Red Lion Yard, said: ‘What it boils down to is more volunteers to prepare the events, man them on the day and clear up afterwards.’

Meanwhile stalwart volunteer Steve Bolt warned that this would be the last summer that hanging baskets would hang in the town – unless all the shopkeepers agreed to water them. Donald Rooke of Donald’s Menswear used to do this voluntarily, but since he retired no one has been found to fill the breach.

‘It costs £1,700 to put up the hanging baskets, we put them up and I take them down, but we haven’t the time to water them,’ said Mr Bolt. ‘You need someone who knows what they are doing, doing it on a regular basis. The only way we have found to do it in the last few years is to pay someone to water them.

‘We haven’t got the funds for it, so there won’t be any baskets next year.’

On the subject of volunteers, he said some were needed over the first weekend in December to help put up the Christmas trees and lights, which will this year be extended around Station Road, St James Street and George Street.

‘The Christmas lights cost us £6,000 to £12,000 each year. This year we’ve had to replace a lot of cabling. We pay [lighting expert] Mike Harding, with three gangs of blokes and three cherry pickers to do it over three weekends. There is a lot of expense for the Christmas lights.’

Ms Oliver-Deacon suggested that there should be a collection in all the shops to help pay for the lights.

‘Rather than charging customers for a carrier bag, for example, we could say would you donate something towards the Christmas lights?’

Everyone was urged to buy raffle tickets in support of the Christmas lights, available at Donald’s Menswear.

‘Everybody here knows people who say how wonderful the Christmas lights in Okehampton are. All these people could be selling tickets,’ said Rob Flexman.

Town councillor Paul Vachon, who came up with the idea of the CIC, to be called Prosper Okehampton, suggested it could also market the town to visitors and residents.

It is being proposed to pay someone a salary to do the job. The chamber of trade currently has no paid staff.

Some at the meeting questioned whether this would be value for money.

Rob Flexman suggested starting with revitalising the Everything Okehampton website, which was originally set up by the chamber, to act as a business directory and let people know about events in the town. He said he would volunteer to ‘chivvy up traders’ to give information for the directory. Somebody could be employed part-time to maintain the website, it was suggested.

West Devon borough councillor Caroline Mott asked: ‘How are you going to fund this? Who is going to pay for the person who is coordinating it?’

It was suggested that the CIC, as a charity could apply for funding.

A show of hands of most of the 22 people in the audience indicated that there was support for the idea in principle of a CIC, although another challenge for people to volunteer to set it up only saw a few hands raised.

Chamber chairman Linda Harper said: ‘If people are supportive of the idea of a CIC, I’m more than prepared to promote it and get people on board.’