CLLR Sherrell's unhelpful reply last week to my letter of July 1 was a surprise.  I was not criticising Cllr Govier — I was asking for clarification of a point which she herself had raised.  

It seemed to me that if a councillor refrains or is prevented from voting because they hold an office such as mayor, they may not be representing the views of their electorate as they should.  It is a shame that Cllr. Sherrell, with his many years of experience, did not take the opportunity to explain or justify this practice.

I have now written to the town and borough councils to seek the information I wanted, under the Freedom of Information Act, and to propose that the substitution of such councillors, for the duration of their period in ceremonial office, ought to be considered so that the outcome of committee votes is not skewed by the 'mayor effect'.

Alison Wright

Whitchurch