Sirs
I read with alarm your item on the bid for Marlborough to quit Wiltshire. It is preposterous that there has ben no public consultation on this issue and I have, of course, immediately applied for a full, uncorrupted, transcript of this meeting under the Freedom of Information Act.
It is no surprise that a camping policy does indeed exist within the Wiltshire boundaries. Savernake forest is a breeding ground for rough sleepers to proliferate. It will be extremely easy for any diligent representative of the unnamed, but ugly, party to persuade this population to register to vote, apply for proxy votes on their behalf and hence perpetuate the political hegemony forever. The fact that Wiltshire Council has run out of money is surely irrelevant. The food bank is bursting at the seams with donated food, volunteers are running all our local services and school children are cleaning our streets with the help of the mayor.
Whether we join Swindon or West Berkshire is a more contested point and I can understand why this caused distress to some members of the meeting. There are actually Labour councillors in Swindon which rather contaminates debate in this part of the country.
However to leave Wiltshire would be a lot less traumatic than leaving the EU so I hope this committee keeps busy with its deliberations tomorrow and your reporting of this story will continue.
Yours,
A concerned Marlborough resident