David Keight, of Coach Place, Newton Abbot, writes:

Apart from having a General Election on May 7, many of us also will have the chance to vote for our local council members, especially here in Teignbridge. May I ask that rather than vote along party lines (as many do, and is their right), that we reflect on what our councillors have done either for or against our wishes in the past few years.

I refer to the disastrous '20 year plan' or 'Plan Teignbridge' that was pushed through mainly by block-voting, with only the Liberal Democrats and Independents trying to stop it. The Conservatives voted it through without apparently even considering the thousands of people that had written in and commented against the proposals.

As a resident of the Wolborough ward I was further dismayed by the rejection of an amendment that would have protected Wolborough Hills and Decoy areas of Newton Abbot. Our local Ind. and LD. councillors did their best to back the amendment, however again the 'block vote' of the Conservatives plus some other councillors that are not directly involved in the area caused the rejection the amendment, despite the wishes of the majority of people in Wolborough.

Those of us living in Newton Abbot can see how quickly the developers took advantage of the plan - just look at the building going on already over green-field sites in every direction.

My point here is that we should look at the record of how our councillors have acted during the past few years then vote accordingly and not just follow the same party we elect for Westminster.

Please use your democratic right to vote on May 7, but open your eyes first to what has already been done 'in your name' locally.

Teignbridge DC will share details of who voted against your wishes, shouldn't we all return the favour ?