A MAN locked horns with Tidworth Town Council over the council’s unwillingness to allow his family to plant a memorial tree with a plaque in memory of a late family member raised in the town.

Former town councillor Fred Galvin says his family want to plant a tree in memory of his late nephew, John Galvin, known affectionately as Little Ginge, who died on April 23 this year aged 27.

“We just want somewhere where friends and family can go to pay tributes to him,” Fred told the Andover Advertiser.

At Tuesday’s town council meeting it was pointed out that John was no longer a resident of Tidworth, having left the area at the age of 15 to move to Devizes with his mother.

However, Fred argued that John had lived over half of his life in the town and regularly came back to the area to see friends and family most weekends.

The town council heard how the decision made by the committee was based on the fact that he wasn’t a resident of Tidworth at the time and wasn’t on the electoral roll.

County councillor Mark Connolly, standing in for absent chairman Chris Franklin, said: “From what I gather, it’s an issue of precedence here, that if we did this for somebody that is out of town now, irrespective of whether he came at the weekend or not, he wasn’t a resident on the electoral roll.

“I understand it’s very close to your heart because it’s a member of your family and it’s a very delicate situation.”

Fred said: “So what happens if I drop dead in Tidworth then?

“Are you going to turn round and tell my family, get the hell out of Tidworth?

“Why don’t you town councillors go and tell that to his 10-year-old sister, because this council doesn’t give a damn,” added Mr Galvin.

Cllr Connolly said: “It’s not that we don’t give a damn, it’s a precedent that we set.

“Because if you allow for one person who doesn’t live in the town, you allow for any person who has any links to the area to do the same thing.”