SIR — It's surely no coincidence that West Somerset Council announced their new "blueprint for tourism" at the end of the pantomime season.

To release this blueprint after overseeing the publication of Exmoor 2010, the area's 'local' guide that many believe fails to promote the area as a whole, is surely farcical. What a missed opportunity! And what a waste of a £24,000 subsidy.

Shouldn't the release of this blueprint have been timed so that the producers of Exmoor 2010 could act on its recommendations?

Exmoor 2010 should have been the first step towards helping the whole of West Somerset develop its own brand identity, not concentrate on what Exmoor has to offer.

Did those preparing this very important report discuss their recommendations with the Active Exmoor partnership? If not, why not?  Was it a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing?

And if the blueprint's producers did discuss the content of said document, then we have a serious problem if the council believes that Exmoor 2010 is the first step to making the most of the tourism opportunities for the whole area, because clearly it does not.

I note that the council has "earmarked £160,000 from a government grant aid package" and is also apparently "investing" £21,000 for funding an events co-ordinator as well as £25,000 for supporting events over the next two years, and further money has also been earmarked, including £20,000 for the tourism website

Let us hope that the money is used for the purposes publicly stated and does not mysteriously disappear into the enormous budget deficit that is West Somerset Council.

And neither should it be wasted on consultants' fees that only confirm what could be discovered simply and freely by consulting with, and listening to, those most directly affected on a local level.

I suspect that the reason outside consultants are so often commissioned is to provide a 'get-out' for officials in the wrong jobs or without the relevant experience and lacking confidence in their abilities to deliver. 

How much better it would be for the council to be able to say "We discussed these issues with local councils, chambers of commerce etc and we've agreed between us that the best solution for everybody will be . . ."

Of course we'll never see that as long as the council carries on doing its own thing without involving those who have a better understanding of the problems and possibly their solution.

I notice too, that the council has an economic regeneration manager.

Given that the council admits that tourism is "the lifeblood of the district", I presume the officer has significant experience in this very important field and hope she will receive the full support of her colleagues in what will surely be an extremely difficult and challenging appointment, pivotal to promoting the area's tourism industry.

Finally, I hope that there will be very thorough and public monitoring of how the money allocated to marketing our area is spent.

We want it spent wisely. We don't want it wasted and we don't want it quietly re-allocated either.

P Davies,

Queens Road,