SIR  As the chairman of Minehead Town Council, I chaired the meeting on Wednesday July 21 and read with interest Rosemary Lawsons letter about the happenings at the meeting. It did appear to me to be very negative and selective.

As the meeting closed, she rushed to speak to Cllrs Venner and Berry and did not seek the opinions of any other councillors. It appears that Cllrs Venner and Berry are in tandem because of the number of letters they have written and co-signed to the Town Clerk.

They also co-signed a letter to the Free Press published on March 12 entitled We are ashamed to be town council members. I am not ashamed to be a town council member.

I would have thought Mrs Lawson, in an attempt to get some sort of balance to her letter, would have spoken to me as chairman.

Regarding the achievement of the town council having the Power of Wellbeing, if as she claims Cllr Venner made a statement that he thanked members of the public who had encouraged the council to follow Watchets lead and welcomed the new initiative, I find this strange because he was at a town council meeting when it was discussed how we might encourage those councillors, including himself, who did not attend the first meeting in October 2009 to attend the second.

Minehead Town Council took its own course of action to start the procedure for obtaining The Power of Well-being in 2009.

On October 29 2009 at a meeting at Carhampton Village Hall, a majority of Minehead Town Councillors and the town clerk attended, along with other town and parish councillors, a seminar to complete a course with the intention of gaining The Power of Wellbeing. This included Watchet Town Councillors and I congratulate Watchet Town Council for achieving this status.

Mineheads failure to achieve this status before it did was because we did not attain the target of 80 per cent of councillors required to complete the course.

Amongst those who did not attend were Cllrs Venner and Berry. In fact Cllr Venner with other councillors were encouraged by councillors and the town clerk, who had completed the course, to attend a special second session.

This was skilfully arranged by town clerk Sue Sanders along with other business to enable the council to achieve the 80 per cent required.

Rosemary Lawson made a great play on the vote of censure on Cllr Venner after he questioned the town clerk as to whether she had been approved to the necessary standard for a council to have The Power of Well-being.

If she had asked Cllr Stokes, myself, or any other town councillor, she would have had an explanation for this action.

All councillors who attended the course to enable Minehead Town Council to have the Power of Wellbeing learned that it was essential that the town clerk was approved with certification as well.

If Cllr Venner had any doubts or should he have had a lapse of memory, all he had to do was ask the town clerk or other councillors who had completed the course.

There was no need for him to challenge the town clerk in a public meeting unless he wished to try and cause her public embarrassment.

As Mrs Lawson may know, any motion moved and seconded at a meeting is open for debate and a right to reply.

Cllr Venner, as Mrs Lawson must know, is a past chairman of Minehead Town Council and would know his rights and the correct procedures of debate. Curiously on this occasion there was no challenge.

To use Mrs Lawsons own quote, Quite what are members of the public to make of all this?

Cllr Ron Bridle,

Minehead Town Council.