’ I have followed with interest the debate surrounding the ­proposal to relocate the Totnes war memorial by a few metres.

I applaud Totnes Town Council’s decision to seek the views of local residents before taking a position on this.

As a local resident myself and a churchwarden of St Mary’s Church, I think it is very important to be fair and objective and not to be rushed into making any ill-judged decision.

While I fully appreciate the desire of relatives to keep this place sacred to the memory of those who gave their lives, I think this can be achieved in another way.

I refer to the imaginative suggestion by local historian and aesthete James Bellchambers to move the memorial itself while creating a beautiful patterned ‘footprint’ in its original ­location. This would greatly enhance the whole area while opening up new views of the churchyard, as advocated by the St Mary’s Heritage Trust.

In this way, we would end up with two memorials instead of one; and it should also be possible to include the names of another 27 war casualties who appear to have been missed off.

Surely they have as much right to be commemorated as their fellow servicemen.

I congratulate Mr Bellchambers on his truly inspired idea, which, if you will pardon the pun, paves the way to a win-win situation for all ­concerned.

Julian Hall

Fore Street, Totnes