I WROTE a number of letters to the Advertiser when the creation of the Andover Town Council was being considered.

I warned that the project would result in higher costs for council tax payers. You have now reported that the precept will rise by 90 per cent when average wages have risen by only about 2 per cent.

Our 19 councillors only have responsibility for the Christmas lights and allotments; they now seek a wider remit, including bus shelters.

There is little public evidence of TVBC providing an inadequate service in the areas.

Indeed, my friends with allotments say the service has become much worse under the Town Council.

As I originally feared, this is in danger of becoming a vanity project for many who could not get elected as TVBC councillors. The overheads of having a town council increase.

They now propose to spend £1,650 on ‘badges of office’. They are entering the property market and recruiting even more employees, with the additional cost of National Insurance and pension liabilities. I doubt there will be a compensating reduction in TVBC council tax.

The cost of electing these 19 individuals is set to soar by 100 per cent to £16,000. To make matters even worse, the council cannot apparently attract sufficient candidates to even hold elections (seven are co-opted).

All this because only some 14 per cent of the total electorate, by a very slim majority, voted in favour of having a town council despite a massive campaign to get one. My only hope is that the Conservatives will once again seek election to get some sanity back to Andover politics.

David Clark, Conholt Road, Andover.