Following your article on the proposed district council merger I would like to offer my apology to officers at the district council. Not least as they have very limited opportunity to defend or redress the arguments. It was clear from the article that, due to some injudicious remarks on my part, the blame for our latest council fiasco (in my view) lay at their door. This was unfair. As my younger brother would say: “Julian I’m sure you mean well but your hot temper does you no favours.”

My main target should have been the political vacuum which now masquerades as leadership at the council. As individuals the Conservatives are all good men and women but as a political administration they are more akin to a drunken octopus – failing to firmly grasp the levers of power, while at the same time lavishly dipping their tentacles into expensive pies, all at tax payers’ expense.

The administration is riddled with incompetence, complacency and arrogance. Portfolio holders fail to have a grasp of their brief, not knowing the most basic crucial facts and hiding behind senior officers when questioned. It’s as if they are trying to outdo their political masters at Westminster!

In some respects we are all to blame – you get the politicians you deserve, as the old adage goes. It’s not helped by an archaic electoral system and the tendency for people to vote slavishly along party lines (with a few honourable exceptions) without daring to question the status quo. Whatever happens with the merger plans, SHDC needs a massive overhaul. At the next local elections I hope there is an unprecedented change in councillors brought about by the electorate. And if that includes me, so be it. Even as opposition councillors, we must share some of the blame.

Cllr Julian Brazil

East Prawle, Kingsbridge