SIR,

I would like to thank fellow residents of Dixton and Osbaston who voted to trust me as their councillor. I am sorry that I cannot represent them at county level but am honoured to rejoin the town council on their behalf.

I urge everyone to make sure your town councillor is working hard. Come and see the committees at work on Monday evenings. Find out how to give your opinion. All these public meetings are at the Shire Hall and for the next year at least, so are the county council's.

As times get tougher, petrol and heating prices soar and housing for local young people gets scarcer, our community will be increasingly under pressure. A healthy community is able to share resources, time and skills, not simply protect its own, behind closed doors.

Monmouth's incredible network of interest groups, from archaeology to zumba, means we are strongly connected to each other. Add to that the range of mutual support groups and charity fundraisers and voluntary advisors.

The huge local response this year, to the call for the Community Connections Befriending scheme is proof that Monmouth is not a frightened, selfish community but keen to care for its vulnerable and lonely as well as those further afield.

We need to have the confidence to build on our strengths, whether that is to ask for help or offer it. We can take on more local responsibility and learn new skills.

Elections tend to be divisive. Now, let us hope that all of us councillors whether newly or re-elected, remember that we represent an impressive, cohesive community which will be increasingly tested. We can either help or hinder Monmouth's resilience.

Anthea Dewhurst

(Monmouth)