Martin McGowan-Scanlon, of Bay View estate, Stoke Fleming, writes:

I would like to thank Gordon Anderson for the hours of amusement he has provided recently with his reaction to the Business Improvement District.

From his poster campaign to his antics at the BID meeting through to his letter, Chronicle, May 6, redefining what is democracy, he has truly made me laugh. Goodness knows I am no fan of the way the BID board has operated and consider it to be mainly vested interest rather than a group working for the town, but the concept is in itself a good one.

Mr Conisbee stated that he was unable to get any volunteers to join the BID board, hence the recommendation for a vote to close it, but I am aware of a number of people, myself included, who volunteered, even though I would have needed to pay a voluntary levy for the privilege.

Any first-year marketing student will tell you that the poster campaign was ill-conceived, outdated and badly positioned on a Tube, where 90 per cent of people are heads down on mobile phones. Mr Anderson’s, and indeed Nigel Way’s, were much better thought out.

The business plan seemed ­elitist and non-inclusive to many and, despite what Mr Reach may claim, was undeliverable, which was presumably why he didn’t hang around to try to deliver it. The communication generally was appalling and that probably contributed more than anything to the whole debacle.

Sorry Linda, but that is no excuse to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I hope that whatever the decision made when the vote takes place, it is by a majority of those eligible to vote. Otherwise Mr Anderson may find himself in the ­invidious position of having to agree that any vote to shut it down without a majority of ­voters is undemocratic. He will then presumably support a poster campaign to keep it open, puerile shouting, coughing and wholesale interrupting at a meeting and a request for ­another vote in order to get the result a minority may want.

On second thoughts, I’m not ready yet to stop laughing.