Sir – Re Councillor Enright’s letter (July 1) may I also congratulate Laura Price on being elected to the council, but can I add congratulations to both David Harvey and Jane Doughty as I’m sure Cllr Enright meant to.

Being the new boy, I must say that I am curious to see which bits of town council business are not already open to the public. So far, everything I’ve seen outside section 1(2) of the Local Government Act (concerning commercially sensitive and confidential business) has been done in the full view of the public, with reports available on the town council website.

Indeed, the meeting that took place to discuss whether to spend over £3,000 of taxpayers’ money printing out cards was carried out with a member of the press in attendance. I recall it was the opinion of the council that given that the extra election was the result of the tragic death of a very well-loved and well-known former mayor, the public would be quite aware of the election. Also, I believe the member of the press in attendance was asked to assist us in getting the message across. While the question of democracy was raised by many, including Cllr Enright, the cost was seen as too high.

In reference to his other point, I personally stood for election not to promote any political party or to do down any other party, I stood to be of service to my community. I believe party politics have no place at this level of government beyond giving the electorate an idea of my way of thinking when making decisions.

I look forward to working with all my fellow councillors regardless of their ideologies or political beliefs and I personally will work in a way that benefits my community, not my party. I hope others on the council share that belief.

Dean Temple
Witney North