Having followed the developing saga of Lydney Town Council, I decided to work through the council minutes since the May elections. 

I was disturbed to find several astonishing decisions which, I feel, should be aired in the press.

While the floral displays in Lydney are very pretty, do they really need to be supplied by a company in Derbyshire, at a cost of almost £5,000?  

Are local nurseries not able to compete – surely we should be supporting local businesses?  

Also, is it really necessary to have the verges cut so frequently at a cost of many thousands of pounds per year, on a four-year contract?

At the meeting of June 10, Cllr Holmes advised that some residents had not received the town council newsletter, suggesting that the present form of distribution was not satisfactory and if the Royal Mail were used, this would be expensive.

Despite this fact, at the July 8 meeting Cllr Greenwood proposed that the Royal Mail delivery should proceed and this was carried unanimously.

But wait for it, a council employee will have to drive to Swindon four times per year to deliver the newsletters to the Royal Mail distribution centre. 

How can councillors justify this expense for what is virtually junk mail?  Carbon footprint anyone?

Now we come to the proposed council wind turbine. 

Sites mentioned:  the cemetery;  Primrose Hill Meend (surely mesne?)  or the allotments in South Road.  Ned’s Top all over again!

Thanks to the local press, we now know that Cllr Ives and Mayor Pearman have resigned, and our town clerk has absented herself on sick leave, but according to the subsidiary draft minutes of the July 15 meeting,  taken by the now ex-Mayor, so did Cllr Zac Arnold.

How many councillors have we got left and who will turn up for the next round on September 9? – Civis Vigilans, Lydney.