Eric Preston, vice-chairman, of Dartmouth Museum, writes:

While I fully understand the wish of the town council to 'do their duty' and find homes for the district's homeless people, I was greatly disappointed by the council's decision to spend about £45,000 on the flat at 6A The Butterwalk before renting it out to one homeless family, instead of renting it to Dartmouth Museum for use by the whole community as a heritage resource centre.

For 17 months, the museum has tried to persuade the council to save the cost of repairs by letting the museum carry out the work at their own expense.

In return, the museum offered to rent the flat at an agreed commercial rent, subject only to being able in return to receive some of the money held by the Henley Trust – which is for the express purpose of displaying the Henley Museum collection – now part of the general museum collection. They have held several meetings with councillors to explain and document their plans, only to have these rejected at the last minute.

Quite apart from the other questionable additions to the vouncil's expenditure such as expense allowances, resulting in the 30 per cent increase in council tax, the museum's plan would have saved a considerable amount for the taxpayers.

This flat is anyway not suitable for a family, as the deputy mayor, Cllr Rob Lyon, pointed out. It has no garden and can only be accessed by a fire escape.

The possible access via the museum will have to be barred for security reasons and precautions taken such as avoiding water leakage through the museum ceilings.

Is there no way that the council can reconsider this decision, following confirmation of all their costs, and help the whole community?