AT the Salisbury City Council meeting on July 21 the city councillors voted by 11 votes to seven to take over the whole of the parish of Laverstock & Ford, including Hampton Park and Old Sarum.

The seven city councillors who voted against this said that they would welcome Laverstock to join the city but would respect them if they wanted to remain intact and remain independent.

The 11 city councillors who voted for this land grab do not care if Laverstock, Ford, Hampton Park and Old Sarum want to join the city or not.

They want a takeover.

For the record, and from the published minutes, those city councillors are Matthew Dean (St Paul’s), Derek Brown (St Francis & Stratford), Sven Hocking (St Martin’s & Cathedral), Atiqul Hoque (St Francis & Stratford), Colin Froude (St Mark’s & Bishopdown), John Lindley (St Paul’s), John Collier (Harnham), Charles Rogers (St Francis & Stratford), Mark Timbrell (Milford), Margaret Willmot (Fisherton & Bemerton), and John Walsh (Fisherton & Bemerton).

One wonders if these city councillors really believe in democracy. What happens next?

According to the Wiltshire Council website the view of these 11 city councillors will be placed before a working group at Trowbridge.

It is to be hoped that someone at Wiltshire Council has read the Local Government and Public Involvement and Health Act 2007 which states that when considering a community governance review, principal councils are required to consult those local government electors in the area under review.

They have to ask the people of Laverstock, Ford, Hampton Park and Old Sarum what they want. Maybe the 11 city councillors should read this act as well.

Andrew Prince Salisbury