Are the Ottery St Mary town councillors who voted to purchase a new chain of office for the mayor costing £2,000 living on another planet ?

Do they have so little respect for residents of Ottery parish stuggling to meet ever increasing bills or local groups seeking council support for local projects ? Are they so detached from reality that they fail to grasp the message that this decision sends to the community ?

It would seem so.

If the mayoral chain is supposedly falling to bits surely it can be repaired by a local craftsman at a fraction of the cost. Who cares about the wording on the current chain? Mayor Dobson rightly said it is part of the Ottery’s history.

I attended a council meeting in Tipton Community Hall less than two years ago when the repair/replacement issue was discussed. The majority of councillors were clearly uncomfortable with spending public money in the economic climate and they voted to shelve the issue. So what has changed to justify reviving this frivolous matter of a new mayoral bauble? If anything the economic hardship faced by ordinary people is far worse now.

Councillors who voted for this expenditure should be ashamed of themselves. Their duty is to support the interests of the community they represent not a vanity project at such an inappropriate time.

If Cllr Lewis feels that mayoral status is so important perhaps he might like to consider a personal gift of a new chain of office, not expect the community to foot the bill.

Margaret LeM. Hutchesson,

Tipton St John.