IAN Hunt’s letter (SA July 15) queried the relevance of parish councils. I was a parish councillor in Chiseldon for many years; I would maintain that it was an extremely useful body.

It was non-political, it dealt with local issues, it was well attended by our borough councillors and in that way it was a conduit for local concerns to be fed into the Borough Council itself.

Swindon has 14 (I think) such parish councils, which presumably all do a similar job. They are funded from council tax, but have to submit their budget each year for scrutiny.

The money they spend is for the provision of local services, e.g. recreation grounds, play areas etc, which the borough would have to pay for if the parish didn't exist.

The work is entirely voluntary and in my 10+ years, I never claimed any expenses and I am not aware of anyone else who did, except for occasional minor things like postage and other expenses actually incurred.

Non-parished areas in Swindon are served by their local forums – mine is for West Swindon – but they are not decision-making bodies, though mine at least allows for full and free discussion on any issue, which can only be good, though parish councils do that anyway.

Long live parish councils!

Chris Barry, Swindon