IN RESPONSE to your piece headlined ‘Call for Councillor to resign in burqa row’ (Keighley News, June 1), I would say that my highly respected colleague Cllr Michael Westerman, whom I personally hold in high regard, is entitled to his opinion.

However, Cllr Westerman is not resident in my town council ward, and therefore is not a registered elector that I am accountable to as a ward councillor.

I was put on Keighley Town Council by the public of my ward. I serve the public, I am there for the public, by means of the public and only the public can remove me, if they see fit. I am not on the council to serve other councillors, but to serve my ward and the wider town. I am not a professional politician or a councillor’s councillor, nor am I overly enamoured with political correctness.

Bracken Bank and Ingrow ward of Keighley Civil Parish had just over 4,000 registered electors the last time I checked in April 2015. If a majority of those – so, more than 2,000 people – were to get a petition together calling for me to resign my council seat then I would do so.

As it is, I may or may not stand again for Keighley Town Council at the next elections in May 2019. Like any councillor, I am an individual, whose circumstances could alter in the next two years. I can only decide closer to the time and it’s impossible to say at this point. My work commitments have recently changed and might advance further, or one’s personal life can change, perhaps leading to a re-organisation of priorities.

So, for now, I won’t be causing the Keighley precept payer the expense of a by-election, as I see no outcry from those whom I owe my public position to that would warrant it.

COUNCILLOR SAMUEL FLETCHER KEIGHLEY