Cllr BRENDA BATTERSHILL, of Teignmouth, writes: Re the article headed Quality Assurance in last week's Teignmouth Post. It was most gratifying to read Lesley Smith's comments. As secretary of the National Association of Local Councils, hers is an informed and authoritative voice. It was precisely for the reasons she stated that I, as a new Teignmouth town councillor, voted with the other 11 for chairman Cllr Phillips' proposal that, and I quote: 'Becoming a Quality Council would be the prime objective of this council'. During the following months a lot of progress was made but, when Cllr Phillips stepped down as chairman in September 2003 for personal reasons, pursuing this objective ceased. It never appeared on subsequent agendas, nor was it discussed and, over the many months when a few of us did try to raise this issue, there was no support or help. So it saddens me to read Cllr Mary Strudwick's printed comments in today's article, and I quote: 'I support the idea of a Quality Council'. This begs the question why, at a recent Teignmouth council meeting, did she vote against seeking to become a Quality Council? As a long-serving county and town councillor she knows that working together should mean listening to all other views and opinion and not, as has so often happened, accepting without justifiable explanation the proposals and decisions of a few. Cllr Strudwick knows that it should be a majority decision based on informed opinions and not, as so often happens, voting on decisions made by a few. Only when each is allowed the same courtesy and consideration in all debates, as is accorded others, can constructive work commence. As for Cllr Weekes' comments that he could not see how Teignmouth Town Council can ever become a Quality Town Council, it seems obvious to me that it never will while the majority of councillors, for their own unstated reasons, do not actively support this major step forward in local government.
