I wish through your letters' page to draw to the attention of Sandown residents that the Annual Parish Meeting will take place at The Broadway Centre, Sandown, on Monday (April 24).

The Mayor, who is responsible for convening this meeting, has decided that the meeting shall commence at 6pm, the earliest time allowed by law rather than 7pm, the usual starting time for bi-monthly town council meetings which would have been more convenient for those arriving home from work.

Nevertheless, I hope as many Sandown residents as possible turn up to make their views known about the town council’s performance and also wider Sandown issues.

The town council precept, which for 2023-24 is £218.43 per Band D property, the highest on the Island by some margin, will be a matter of interest to residents.

This compares with £89.41 paid in Shanklin and £98.54 paid in Lake.

Residents of The Bay enjoy broadly comparable levels of local government service.

Why, therefore is it acceptable for Sandown residents to be required to pay over twice the price for local services compared with those living elsewhere in The Bay?

Fortunately there is a solution to this injustice which Sandown residents (although I suspect not residents living in Lake and Shanklin) may wish to consider.

The total precept for the three Bay councils this year amounts to £1,017,561 of which over 52 per cent is paid by Sandown residents alone.

If there was a single council raising this amount the cost for Band D property across The Bay would be £132.17, a saving to Sandown residents of £86.26.

Of course, with a single council, the overheads would be lower with one rather than three separate administrations being required.

There are 37 council seats on the three councils although a number of people sit on more than one council which suggests a desire to look strategically across The Bay.

A single council could be run by 12 councillors, (two for each of the six IW Council wards in The Bay).

If you are a Sandown resident and think this idea has merit please turn up to the meeting and call on the town council to ask the IW Council to carry out a long overdue parish review in The Bay.