In Praise of Councillor Height

After reading the praise heaped on Councillor Height by yet another anonymous admirer in the Shepton Journal and after reading of her many deeds over and above the call of duty and acts of outstanding courage in the face of adversity. I ask if the Journal could verify to all of its’ readership that the letter was not written by the good lady herself.

I have noted that an awful lot of anonymous people write in to praise the good Lady Councillor and so it appears quite strange.

What has the author of such praise got to hide in declaring their admiration for the esteemed Councillor? Surely the author would want to shout it from the rooftops that they have a leader.

This article reads like a party political piece. What she has promised, what she has delivered, how she can help, etc. Could it be by chance that Councillor Robinson has told her that she is stepping down from the District Council? Sorry to be so cynical. Does make you wonder if the writer was put up to it though!!

As a way of promoting oneself it was excellent. What a politicians dream. Full of facts, acts of derring-do and genuine girls own stuff. Er except for maybe the bit about the grit bins. I have a feeling that all is not quite as it was stated in the letter of last week.

Whilst I believe that Councillor Height was the lady who came up with the idea for the grit bins and for which she should be rightly praised, I understand her involvement was not as great as has been made out. This could in fact be a case, as the author put it of “piling in to claim the glory”.

Was it not Councillor Height who stormed out of the sub-committee meeting when the issue of the grit bins was being discussed because she could not get her own way? Did Councillor Height not object to the siting of five grit bins on Hillmead which were proposed? I believe Hillmead eventually got 1 or if you include Tipcote Hill and Gold Hill, 3.

Did Councillor Height actually do any of the spade work? No, not digging out the rock salt herself, but did she inspect the sites, did she deal with the co-ordinates of the bins? Did she liaise with the Town Clerk to ensure health and safety compliance? Could she state exactly what her input was in relation to the bins? In her own words please.

It was however, kind of the author who eulogised the exploits of Councillor Height to leave the readers with the wonderful visions of the said Councillor measuring the grit in the bins and of her washing down road signs. As for photographing the stub of a lamp post, that did it, I could not take any more and I just had to run a cold bath.

As I have said previously, normally letters in praise of Councillor Height are written by anonymous of Cowl St. What makes that little article so funny is that the person who wrote it, is the most un-anonymous person I know.


Anon, name and address supplied,
but really David Evans
Cowl St