A meeting of the Holsworthy Senior Council was held in the Manor Suite last Tuesday evening with Margaret Coles in the chair, writes Christine Williams, our Holsworthy correspondent.

Several matters of concern to the over 50s were raised and discussed. Colin Daniel of Clawton recounted the battle he had had to get his cold weather payment. The problem was that the temperature in the Holsworthy area was considered by the Government to be the same as that recorded 40 miles away on the coast at Chivenor.

He had been in touch with the BBC and Geoffrey Cox, MP for Torridge and West Devon who had raised the matter in the House of Commons. Joan Ruddock, Parliamentary Under Secretary in the Department of Energy and Climate Change had agreed to "look into it".

Alan Rayner of Bideford recommended that Holsworthy should lobby to be put in the same area as Torrington where the temperature was determined by that recorded at East Anstey on the edge of Exmoor.

Following their demise of a bus service to Hols­worthy, Margaret Coles raised the plight of older people in Brad­worthy. Previously the over 60s had been able to travel free using their bus passes, but now their only option was the Fare Car for which they had to pay £6 return. Alan Rayner commented that lack of access to transport was at the root of social exclusion for many.

Other topics raised were the poor state of the pavements in the town centre, the imminent arrival of TorrAge which provides a variety of support services for older people and the opportunity to have a say in planning an 'Older People's Food Charter'.

The greater part of the meeting, however, was spent discussing ways of increasing membership. Margaret Coles said that, working with other organisations to improve the lives of over 50s, the Senior Council had real clout. For instance, members had contributed to a document on dementia care, and had been invited to a give their views at a meeting on the Northern Devon Core Strategy in March.

However, they required a broader membership to provide evidence. It was felt they needed to spread the word on the valuable work of the Senior Council by advertising in local ­villages, by seeking the support of the town and parish councils and by ­current members proactively recruiting others.

The next meeting will be in the Manor Suite at 7pm on Tuesday, April 7.