SIR – With the escalating cost of Sidmouth Town Council, so little of which comes Sidbury s way, is it now time the village thought again about having its own parish council, rather than subsidising its much larger neighbour down the road?

SIR - With the escalating cost of Sidmouth Town Council, so little of which comes Sidbury's way, is it now time the village thought again about having its own parish council, rather than subsidising its much larger neighbour down the road?

I understand that, back in the days when Sidmouth only needed a part-time clerk, there was a referendum in Sidbury to see if it wanted its own council and the decision was to stay with Sidmouth.

In those days, the Sidmouth Town Council element in the Council Tax was one of the smallest of the town councils of East Devon, and there was not the financial incentive to go it alone. Now, with the Sidmouth Town Council precept this year going up to nearly 90 per cent more than it was in 2004, that is no longer the case.

Sidbury just does not need to be part of a set-up with 19 councillors, two clerks and an expensive building, nor should a Sidbury Parish Council aim to be a so called 'quality' council, which seems to be a pretext for additional spending.

What Sidbury, which is very different to Sidmouth, could have is a very good parish council comprising a part-time clerk and a small body of men and women prepared to give of their time and experience, in the service of their neighbours, community and their countryside.

With so many of the smaller councils in East Devon managing their own affairs in the interest of their communities and with a smaller element in the council tax, I am sure Sidbury could go down that road and make a success of it.

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