Andover Town Council Chairman Geoff McBride had written to the Andover Advertiser after a series of letters appeared from a Mr Mark Brown – who cannot be traced.
The main focus was Mr Brown’s disapproval of the way Andover Town Council was commemorating the WW1 centenary. On investigation, there was nobody by that name at the address given.
Letter from Andover Town Council Chairman
Sir,
The Town Council was formed to act on behalf of the local community of Andover, and as such it is very keen to hear everything you have to say about what we should or should not be doing. It’s your Town Council and we are here for you. We work tirelessly, every day for a better Andover. Our meetings are your meetings and we want to hear your ideas.
Recently I have been encouraged by a number of Andover people coming forward with projects but we need more positive go-getters to work with us to get great things done.
I and others have been concerned about the recent letters published by the Andover Advertiser from a Mr Mark Brown expressing his disapproval of the way Andover Town Council was commemorating the WW1 centenary. To investigate further Andover Town Council wrote to Mr Brown at the address supplied asking him to come along to our next Council meeting and discuss his ideas.
We now discover that Mr Mark Brown does not live at the address supplied and following further investigations can find no-one of this name in Andover.
I am concerned that our community is being given a false impression of public views and I would like to bring this out in the open. These damaging letters about the Andover Town Council, Test Valley Borough Council and individual Councillors, were published from an unknown source. This town belongs to you, the people who live here, not to fictitious individuals who write negative letters and try and get them published for their own agendas.
Now is the time for you to make a difference. Our next meeting will take place in the Town Council Offices and it is the Amenities and Town Development meeting on 17 July 2014. Please join us and come along at 7pm and tell us your ideas. We want to meet you!
Cllr Geoff McBride
Chairman
Andover Town Council
Nice one Mark, Fred, Jack, Mary!! Maybe these people whoever they are realise how futile things are becoming. I read with disbelief in last weeks AA about the owner of the ‘Shahi Raj’ being persued over her very reasonable sign. Described as made of the wrong material & not in keeping with the area………Neither are those stone balls placed on the high street!! Another business being brought to its knees by penpushers & a rulebook?? I didnt want my allottment rent almost doubled but you lot did it anyway! Now we get letters if we have a few too many weeds or we havent cultivated the whole plot. More penpushers with another rulebook! This once thriving town has become a shadow of its former self. Perhaps the commonsense rulebook should now be printed. It will of course be blank as commonsense is upto the individual to make a decision as to right/wrong & reasonable. It might be our town but its a ‘them & us’ situation. Am I wrong? Over to you Mr McBride………….
I have had quite a few run ins with Mr Mark Brown on facebook. A nasty troll. Believe he wrote on Andover News too.
Must be a different Mark Brown, Liz, as I am not on facebook, and have never written to the Andover News.
Firstly, can I assure everyone that I am alive and well!
As usual, the devil is in the detail here. Cllr McBride asked the Advertiser to pass on an EMAIL to me, that is all. As you will be aware, it would be a breach of the Data Protection Act for the Advertiser to pass on my full address to Cllr McBride, although I suspect had he sent a letter, rather than an email, to ‘The Avenue’, it may well have reached me. Anyway, this was his EMAIL:
Regarding the recent letters from a Mark Brown [The Avenue Andover] I would appreciate it if you pass on my invitation to him to our next Amenities and Town Development Meeting, 7 pm 22nd May 14 at the Andover Town Council, First Floor Office, 66C High Street, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 1NG. We would like to hear his proposals for ideas for events and funding.
Geoffrey McBride BSc [Hons] GSM
Chairman Andover Town Council
I chose not to reply, as the invite was obviously loaded. What would I know about FUNDING such events, I am not party to ATC finances? Also, why are they seemingly the only council in the country struggling for ideas for the WW1 centenary? It is not rocket science! But if it is not organised now, then it is not going to happen, much to the shame of the town. The only thing his letter (above) shows, is that ATC is more concerned with defending their position, rather than taking any positive action.
This letter from Cllr McBride continues to deflect massively from the real issue here, which is that Andover is STILL doing nothing for the 100th anniversary of the First World War (maybe you should do a report on that?), which was only ever my reason for writing the letters in the first place. That is not going to be changed by any amount of talking on the 17 July, just two weeks before the anniversary.
The asertion in your opening sentence that I was disproving of the “way Andover Town Council was commemorating the WW1 centenary”, assumed that they were actually doing something for that event, which they clearly are not!