May I take this opportunity of thanking all the people of Brixington for their support during the election period?

I am humbled by the response and feel proud to be returned as the Independent member of both town and district councils. My promise to all is a simple one, as I have always said, if you have a problem call me (email, letter or phone) and I will do my best to help.

Thanks, too, to the friends and colleagues who took the leaflets around the ward, sometimes in very hot or wet conditions; without your help, I would not have been returned.

Now to the future: the Local Development Framework will not go away, there are still threats to us being swamped by housing.

Exmouth is a great town but, I believe, without proper planning and sensible building, our little bit of it may struggle.

These are exciting times (as the town clerk has said), but we must move together and carefully to make sure that the future Exmouth is as good as the present one.

Trevor Cope

Independent councillor for Brixington.