On Tuesday morning, Wiltshire Council will consider a report reviewing councillors’ allowances. The suggestion is that the basic allowance is increased by one per cent, which is in line with the salary increases received by 99 per cent of the staff.

However, the proposed increases for the “great and the good” (eg the leader of the council, cabinet members, portfolio holders etc) are astronomical – in the region of 22 per cent. Amazingly, the Area Board chairmen do even better – a proposed 37 per cent increase.

Whilst there is no denying that some of these posts are very onerous, others are most certainly not. Also, would it be right to take this sort of increase in this day and age with our council tax bills getting larger and larger?

I would urge the public to attend the meeting at County Hall and let councillors know what the opinion of the public is about these seemingly obscene increases.

Ernie Clark, Wiltshire Councillor for Hilperton, Independent Group leader, Wiltshire Council, Stonelea, Hilperton.