Cllr Keith Howard, mayor of Kingsteignton, writes:

I rarely respond to letters in newspapers, preferring to make my own contact with the correspondent; however, I feel I must publicly respond to Mr R J Cole, writing in your edition of November 9.

The main advantage of turning this 'village' into a 'town' has not been what has happened but what has not happened.

By establishing ourselves as a town, close to but separate from Newton Abbot, we have prevented our town from being further subsumed into our larger neighbour. Being a town has given us a heightened identity and status, allowing further work to be done to enhance and improve our community.

Apart from anything else, persisting in pretending that a settlement of this size is a village only serves to make us look ridiculous. Drive up to Haytor and look back on the enormous urban sprawl that is Kingsteignton and tell me by what definition that is a 'village'.

Mr Cole shows little regard for the facts. The town council has not approved 'hundreds of new houses to be built'. The council fought hard to stop the building of houses at new Cross and recently at Penns Mount, but we are not the planning authority and we can be, and have been, ignored. Likewise we have no control over the building or not building of roads, police stations, fire stations or banks.

I am amazed that as an ex-councillor he does not know that we have a town hall, in all but name, and that not only is the town clerk's office open every weekday but that I and my deputy mayor are there every Wednesday morning and available to meet parishioners.

As to town councillors walking the town, six of our councillors are in full time employment and, employed or retired, it is hardly a sensible use of councillors' time to wander aimlessly round the town in the hope that someone may wish to speak with them.MORE LETTERS IN OUR DIGITAL EDITION