I refer to Cllr Tim Wood’s letter (Investing in town- Journal 24th July) in which he bemoans the inaccuracies, amongst local political opponents, in matters relating to the town’s so-called ‘development’.

Having listened to Cllr Wood’s comments, at an EDDC meeting on 23rd July, about local people backing the likes of the Premier Inn development on the Elizabeth Hall site, it is clear that he is not above putting political spin before fact himself.

What was breathtaking is that whilst he mentioned a few people supporting the development, he made not a single reference to the 12,000 who signed a petition against it. He, and others, portrayed the developments as something that was broadly welcomed by the town. Journal letters are testament to the contrary.

When he and his colleagues are seeking votes they will tell you that they will represent all electors. A single visit to any council meeting, and especially one to EDDC, is likely to demonstrate very quickly how cheap such words are and how little representation, with very few notable exceptions, is given to views that do not match those of a ruling party councillor.

Cllr Wood’s opponents are not against development, they simply want development to be appropriate and arrived at through genuine and democratic means and not involving biased, unscientific and unreliable ‘consultations’ or secretive deals (seafront covenants) and the like. Many of we non-party-political residents would wish to see local level politics free from party politics.

The mindset at EDDC was betrayed at the above meeting, by a comment from a very senior officer who suggested in answer to an unrelated matter, that the journey is not as important as the destination. I would suggest that, in a democracy, a philosophy of ‘the end justifies the means’ is utterly out of place.