I AM amazed that Caradon Planning Control Committee are so naive as to suggest to the owners of the Old Toll House at Maudlin Farm that if they do not take reasonable steps to preserve the building, they (Caradon District Council) might soon begin compulsory purchase proceedings. Owners Mr and Mrs Griffith, who live in the United States, ask what assistance they might receive by way of grants and professional advice etc. Surely there is a member of Caradon District Council planning department that has enough knowledge of buildings to say that the Old Toll House is just no good to keep or to throw money at in the way of grants, etc. One does not need very good eyesight to see that there would be more logic in trying to re-build an old mine building on Bodmin Moor and expect to get it 'up and running' again, rather than spend cash on this building. Have these planning committee members not visited the site? Caradon District Council is suggesting repairs and disposal of the building. Who will pay for this apart from the tax and rates payers? Unless, of course, the local group who wish to retain the building are well on their way to raising lots of cash for the purpose. I think not. It seems to me that Mr and Mrs Griffith are expecting to have the Old Toll House re-furbished at no cost to themselves, when the only logical thing to do is to level the site with a bulldozer and maybe sell off any bits of granite that are re-usable.

RAY ROBERTS Liskeard