The Totnes Trust has released a statement regarding the Heritage Area Project at St Mary’s Church.

A representative of the Totnes Trust said that the project “aims to restore and enhance the whole historic area” around the magnificent mediaeval church, which the Parochial Church Council is “planning to restore and make more useable for the community”.

One element of the Heritage project is to create a ‘Place to Remember’ at the front of the church, where “at last there could be more space, delightful garden planting, comfortable seats and an opportunity to record the names of those killed in conflicts since the two World Wars”.

Louis Victory, Totnes Trust, said: “This is a huge improvement on the current cramped space around the War Memorial, and the idea has been widely welcomed.

“The only controversial part of the proposal is the idea that it would be a further improvement to relocate the War Memorial into the Place to Remember.

“There are several very good reasons to do this. It is quite wrong that some opponents are claiming that the move is simply a ‘matter of convenience’.

“The motives are to provide more space for ceremonial gatherings, and to increase the public visibility and status of the Memorial.”

The Totnes Trust says that “respect for the memorial and war dead have been the watchwords for the designs put forward” and that the artist’s impression “shows the care given to make new and beautiful surroundings”.

Louis added: “There is no attempt by Totnes Trust, or the Partnership to which it belongs, to foist these ideas on the community.

“A major public consultation is underway, which should be democratically gone through before decisions are made about any of the projects at St Mary’s.

“The views of ‘Memorial relatives’ have been respectfully sought out, and will weigh heavy in the balance. In the meantime, it seems wrong to expect the Town Council, as owner of the Memorial, to make a premature decision.

“If there is clear evidence, when consultation closes, that the community does not want the Memorial moved, it will not happen.

“But if townsfolk like the idea of an attractive new Place to Remember, that could still be created, and could form part of a better and larger space for gathering near the Memorial left in its current location.”