AN OPEN letter to John Penrose MP: I am not party-political aligned, but I am concerned for Weston, which is my adopted home town.

AN OPEN letter to John Penrose MP:

I am not party-political aligned, but I am concerned for Weston, which is my adopted home town. You are aware of the concern about the threatened closure of North Somerset Museum and you wrote to me in November 2008 to say you were taking this up with Councillor Nigel Ashton.

At a meeting about the museum last Saturday I was impressed by the strength of feeling about this and other matters in the local community. In the High Street people were queuing up to sign a petition, rather than having to be encouraged to do so. There is widespread anger that councillors representing Weston are not caring about their electorate, but rather are blindly following their local party leader. This applies not just to the museum, but also the move of council offices, the proposed closure of Poppyfields, the lack of provision for a good public swimming pool near the seafront and so on.

I realise that you are in a difficult position on account of party loyalty, but those you represent will be very disaffected unless you will publicly stand firm on behalf of your constituents, against what is perceived as the current tyranny of North Somerset Council.

People understand that the current financial situation may require some belt-tightening, but if this burden falls unfairly on the services to Weston you can be sure there will be a strong backlash.

DAVID AGASSIZ

Stafford Place

Weston