I MUST respond to the opinion voiced in last week's issue that as there are 71,758 people in Weston and only 20,000 have signed the Tropicana petition the council might be acting democratically to accept the proposals. This is quite wrong. In a democracy

I MUST respond to the opinion voiced in last week's issue that as there are 71,758 people in Weston and only 20,000 have signed the Tropicana petition the council might be acting democratically to accept the proposals. This is quite wrong. In a democracy abstentions simply don't count.I could argue that of the 71,758 people in Weston at least half are probably under voting age. That leaves 35,879 possible adults. As more than half have said no to the Trop development, then dare I suggest it cannot go ahead? It's not that simple, of course, but the council do need to act democratically.My letter (June 12, Really Democratic) was intended to stress the significance of 20,000 people signing the petition. This is a huge number of people, the majority of whom are likely to be ratepayers. The council should not ignore them.PETER WHITMARSH - Pendlesham Gardens, Weston