I HAVE long followed the sad saga of the Whitchurch rural gateway hoping that good sense would prevail, but sadly it has not, and I would like to comment on D J Rippon?s letter of March 18.

There is no direct redress open to the voter other than at the ballot box, and in this case, as the writer states, you cannot vote a representative out if they are not in your constituency, but you can hit back at the party that fields candidates that are too liberal in making decisions with no regard to the views of an obvious majority in the area concerned, and certainly undemocratic in using a casting vote to enforce an ill thought out, badly designed, appallingly executed, extremely costly and potentially dangerous eyesore, which would do credit to a third world battlefield.

It is fortunate for Tavistock that this insulting blight is about a hundred yards outside the town boundary; if it had been inside, Tavistock would not have made the top town list at all, but would probably have qualified for a grant to improve a deprived rural landscape.

There is a code of behaviour to which candidates for all forms of government from parish, district, county and national level should adhere to, and it would be a good idea for it to adopt as its motto the one used on the coat of arms of the Prince of Wales; Ich Dien (I Serve).

Those who aspire to lead are the servants of the people and not their masters, and long, long ago, signed their letters, ?I am sir, Your obedient servant?. If only.

Peter E Gibbings

The Laurels

Walkhampton