Stuart Watts, chairman, Bigbury Parish Council, writes: I am responding to the letter from Paul Latimer 'Democracy inaction' on November 7. He states that the parish council acted with contempt for the feelings expressed by parishioners about a housing application for the Royal Oak site at our October meeting. He finishes, ironically, with the view that this was a good example of democracy in action. I cannot let his views pass unchallenged. At our meeting there was public consensus among councillors for 'conditional approval' of the application. The conditions for approval reflect accurately the concerns of parishioners expressed at the meeting – as anybody inspecting the planning portal of the district council's website can see. The Parish Council acts for the benefit of the community as a whole, not for a vociferous minority; our deliberations need to take a balanced view on planning matters, taking into account all salient information. That's why we were elected. As I said at the meeting, if parishioners are unhappy, they can express their feelings via the ballot box.