A vital vision for the future of Dartmouth – which could spell out what the town council wants to do with millions of pounds worth of assets – is too hot a potato to even tell residents about, councillors have decided.

A document, entitled The Way Ahead – Vision for the Next Five years, has already been drawn up in secret and handed out to councillors under a 'council eyes only' cover.

Now councillors have decided the document is so important they need a special town council meeting to discuss it – which will be held behind closed doors with both the press and the public excluded.

The report – which has taken three months to draw up – details ideas that could affect the future of some of the council's major assets such as the historic Butterwalk; the market, which has recently undergone a £400,000 council-funded facelift; and the Guildhall.

Mayor Paul Allen admitted the document – drawn up by town clerk Chris Horan – was designed to look at how the council could work in the future and had implications about council tax and the council's own assets.

The document was put before this week's town council meeting when councillors decided it should not be discussed in public.

Cllr Tessa de Galleani, who chairs the council's general purposes committee, said: 'I agree that there is quite a lot in this that needs to be taken in committee (in secret). There are some quite delicate issues here that would be better discussed behind closed doors.'

And the council's finance committee chairman Cllr Francis Hawke warned: 'There are some things in here which, if they became known by certain businesses in the town, this council could possibly be held to ransom.'

Cllr David Gent added: 'There are proposals here that are not definite but if word gets out about some of this you can imagine the stupid rumours that will go around.'

Cllr Allen said after the meeting: 'This council has a great deal of resources like The Butterwalk, the Market Square and flats that we let out as landlords. In the future we have to look at how we are going to deal with that and what our commitments are.

'Local authorities and the county council are cutting back on services and that has implications for us and what we provide in the future – what do we provide in the future, how do we provide it and what resources do we need involving things like the precept and the income we get from our assets.'

One councillor spoke out against dealing with the report in secret. Cllr Paul Reach told the meeting: 'There is nothing here that cannot be discussed openly. It is important to involve the community at the earliest stage.'