John Smith, of First Drive, Dawlish Road, Teignmouth, writes:

I was very sorry to see the letter that appeared on July 22, from Cllr Jacqui Orme that contained several vague suggestions about a lack of transparency in the management of the Eastcliff Centre.

I gather that this followed a statement that the councillor made during a Teignmouth Town Council committee meeting. As chairman of the board of the Eastcliff Community Company I feel it necessary to give the facts.

The Eastcliff Centre was reopened at the start of November last year to provide a building for youth and community work and a setting for music development. Hopefully this would provide again a facility that had previously existed for some years but which had closed more than a year before. At that time we had very little money and no security of operation.

Money raising and donations both before and after the reopening have raised £3,243 towards the music operation in The Cave and £2,565 towards the total operation of the centre. Expenditure, actual and committed, on the music side is more than £2,000 and the board has also guaranteed payment to the music instructor of £5,200 per year (though it is intended that most of this will be recouped via fees – fees that we are trying to keep as low as possible).

The board is paying £1,200 per year for cleaning and cleaning materials and has, as yet uncertain, bills for gas and electricity. Things are financially very tight.

Until a few weeks ago Cllr Orme represented Teignmouth First on the board of the Eastcliff Company and, in truth, understands very well the economic realities of operating Eastcliff.

I am pleased to be able to reassure her that there is no misuse of any funds and that the earlier letter in the Teignmouth Post, on July 15, is part of the strategy she designed.

We are very anxious to increase our security by encouraging donations of money, but also we are keen to encourage the donation of any unused musical equipment. It is very encouraging that Teignmouth people are giving so much support to the youngsters of the town, through this project.

So finally may I thank all those who have given generously of their time, their resources and their energy to make this centre an operational reality again. They are too many to name individually but I promise that the efforts of everybody (including Cllr Orme) will be fully acknowledged when we complete the formal re-opening.

In the meantime, if anybody wants to meet and talk with me about the Eastcliff Centre, please contact me on 01626 772223.