I AM very concerned by Westbury Town Councillor Ian Taylor’s proposal (January 29) that Westbury Leigh should have its own parish council. This would mean that Westbury Leigh would no longer be the responsibility of Westbury Town Council, but would have its own staffing and councillors and raise money through the council tax for local amenities.

Councillor Taylor links the creation of a Westbury Leigh Parish Council with the proposed asset transfer of the residents’ car park from Wiltshire Council to Westbury Leigh Community Project Ltd (the registered charity that runs the Community Hall). He suggests that the parish council could fund car park maintenance and that this would be the only way to guarantee the future of the car park. I note that Bill Clark, Chairman of the Trustees, has disassociated Westbury Leigh Community Project Ltd from the proposal (February 5) .

I congratulate Cllr Taylor for “thinking outside the box” and for his enthusiasm for (very) local democracy, but I consider that his enthusiasm is misplaced. His efforts should go towards making Westbury a better place for everyone, including Westbury Leigh residents. We may have a romantic idea of Westbury Leigh still being the “village” it was historically, but the reality is that it is a suburb of Westbury, hemmed in by the Leighton Park and Leigh Park developments (neither of which would be included in the proposed parish).

Cllr Taylor considers that Westbury Leigh residents pay a total of £18,000 in council tax to Westbury Town Council with little return and that the same amount going to a parish council would ensure better value for money. But there would be less money going to Westbury Town Council and so less available for the Westbury amenities from which we all benefit (such as street events and Christmas lights) and for grants to local bodies such as the Visitor Centre. And a Westbury Leigh Parish Council would have to pay for staff and would be far too small to benefit from any economies of scale. It could end up paying more for comparable facilities than Westbury Town Council.

And Cllr Taylor must be aware of the difficulty in finding volunteers to stand for election as Westbury Town Council – it would be even more difficult to find suitable volunteers amongst the small number of Westbury Leigh residents for a parish council.

The first stage of Cllr Taylor’s project is to canvass support amongst the residents of the area of the proposed parish, which is 201 households on Westbury Leigh (the road) and turnings off it. I urge readers from Westbury Leigh not to support Cllr Taylor’s proposal, but to focus energies on making Westbury a better place for everyone.

Keep Westbury Leigh part of Westbury and say no to a parish council.

Angela Graham-Leigh, Westbury Leigh, Westbury