Richard Cooke, deputy mayor, Market Street, Dartmouth, writes:

Martin McGowan-Scanlon mocks the Dartmouth Town Council for ‘entering secret talks about the Tourist Information centre’, (Letters – July 8).

Most of the council’s business is conducted in public, but in common with most similar organisations, closed sessions are held when commercially sensitive issues such as business plans, salaries or tenders for work are being considered.

In the case of the TIC, the company that ran it had requested a closed session to discuss a proposed business plan. Hopefully these talks will lead to a successful outcome for the centre in the near future.