Are we councillors just wasting our time?

I was encouraged by the number of votes I received which seems to show that there is a substantial minority of electors who do appreciate that national politics should not influence local councils, and who agreed with my vision of how to make Salisbury better.

I would like to thank all those who voted for me and those who helped me in my campaign, but I despair of those who failed to vote (over 60 per cent in my ward) or who voted for candidates, two of whom do not even live in the ward, just because they were standing as national political party representatives. Two of the political candidates did not even bother distributing any leaflets saying what local issues they were standing for, and yet some people still voted for them.

It is very sad if people think that it is not worth voting or that they cannot make a difference. I am still a parish councillor for Laverstock and Ford which also covers Old Sarum, Bishopdown Farm, where I live, Hampton Park and Riverdown and I want to let residents know that I will still fight, as much as I can at the lowly parish level, to ensure that the country park and play parks at Riverdown come to fruition as well as work on improving play and recreational facilities across the ward. I hope the elected Wiltshire councillor for St Mark’s and Bishopdown (who wanted to get rid of Laverstock and Ford as a parish and retain Bishopdown Farm as part of Salisbury City) will take the time to come to future parish meetings covering his unitary ward so that he can keep informed of developments and hopefully put pressure on Wiltshire council also. Finally, I hope that the newly elected councils give people what they want. If not, it will be four years before residents have the chance for a change. Or maybe they are right and councils aren’t worth voting for, in which case, am I and all the other councillors wasting our time?

Hilary Davidson , Laverstock and Ford Parish Council