'Peevish' attack on councillor

6:31pm Wednesday 23rd May 2001

I FEEL compelled to write in response to the letter from Mr George Foden last week.

I express my disapproval of his attitude, and I feel that his letter was deeply flawed. That is in relation to the work of our town councillors, and secondly in his references to our recently retired mayor, Cllr Malcolm Dunlop.

Of course nothing in life is perfect, as Mr Foden seems to think it should be, but we should be extremely proud of our town. Our town councillors have spent a lot of time and energy on behalf of all of us and, bearing in mind the limited mandate which the council holds and the very restricted funding it receives, we should pay tribute to them.

Their work is selfless and voluntary.

Individual councillors, of all political persuasions, have displayed a single-minded attitude for the good of the residents, and there are of course many successful enterprises undertaken by the council. Too many to mention here.

Turning to Cllr Dunlop, I feel upset on his behalf that he should be the butt of Mr Foden's criticism. He has worked tirelessly on the affairs of the town and his year as mayor has been universally claimed as a great success. I pay tribute to his efforts to support various clubs and societies. In the twinning association he has taken the trouble, at his own expense, to visit our twin town of Langres, and despite appalling weather and freezing temperatures on one occasion he drove to France, all the way there and back, and made a magnificent speech, partly in French, extolling the virtues of Beaconsfield at a reception in Langres. There are other examples which space does not permit me to relate. He is not a young man, despite his youthful spirit, and his wife, Zelda, who he looks after in addition to other duties, is confined to a wheelchair.

He is a modest man and it may not be generally known that he recently received the OBE for significant services to charities of the disabled. I welcome this opportunity to draw this to the attention of people in Beaconsfield who were not aware of this.

For Mr Foden to criticise the council in the way he has, and in particular to describe Cllr Dunlop's year as "wasted" is ungenerous and ill-considered.

If he had spent the two hours which it must have taken him to write to you, in pulling up a few weeds in the town hall's drive, about which he complains, then we would have all been better off and his peevish and unappreciative nature would not have come to our attention.

Jonathan D Steel

Walk Wood Rise

Beaconsfield

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