THE headline read ‘Glowing praise as Tony says farewell’.

Am I wrong in assuming that the job of the town clerk was also, in days past, to manage the town? Why, therefore, did we need an extra tier of bureaucracy with the creation of town manager?

What is the job description of this position? I am not sure. We are now going to have two people to take this on. For what reason do we need a Strand Manager. Should this not be taken on by the so- called project coordinator?

It was stated that the town manager negotiated appropriate shop front designs and forged closer links with the business community. What exactly are they?

Also stated was the fact that the Christmas Cracker event was aimed at encouraging local shopping. All I saw when visiting this event were several tatty stalls and little else. Could someone also explain to me what a Business Improvement District in The Strand actually is?

Finally, what has the town manager done to encourage the opening in the town centre of new business, shops, etc, because all I see, as a person who shops on a regular basis in the town and not out of town, is the closure of even more businesses.

For instance, has he tried to encourage a retailer to take over the vacant Thomas Tucker building? Several weeks ago, I had occasion to visit the much smaller town of Tiverton, a busy shopping centre, which has a very good department store. Something, for instance, we are sadly lacking.

Newton Abbot also has a large shopping centre with a large department store to encourage shoppers into the town. Exmouth has a much larger population than either of these towns and the people deserve better.

Perhaps a visit to Tiverton or Newton Abbot by the said coordinator might be a good place to start evaluating the differences.

Alan Heathfield

139 St Johns Road, Exmouth.