Outcry as flag is taken down

2:03pm Thursday 17th April 2008

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CAMPAIGNERS fighting for the Union Flag to be flown over the town hall in Calne are outraged after it was taken down within 12 hours of being hoisted above the building.

Members of the town branch of the Royal British Legion had thought they had won the battle to force the town council to fly the flag daily after winning a vote at the annual parish meeting on Monday.

They were delighted to see the flag flying on Tuesday, however, it failed to reappear yesterday.

According to town clerk Linda Roberts the vote at the parish AGM, although it does stand, has no sway over decisions already made by the council.

Last year councillors voted by 13 to 2 not to fly the flag, saying it would lose significance if flown daily.

Mrs Roberts said the issue would appear before councillors at the next full council meeting on June 23. It is believed the decision not to fly the flag yesterday followed several private conversations between the clerk and members of the council.

But the move has infuriated RBL chairman and town councillor John Ireland, who tabled the original proposal last year.

He said: "By ignoring the parish vote the town council is denying the will of the electorate.

"As far as I'm concerned this has become political and those who back the flag coming down will have a war on their hands."

RBL social secretary Ellie Bland examined local government law to check that members of the public could bring up and vote on issues at annual parish meetings.

Over the weekend she and other RBL members went around the Abberd and Priestly wards in Calne with a petition to gauge the public mood.

"We were faced with almost 100 per cent support," she said. "We were knocking on people's doors and they were snatching the petitions out of our hands."

The petition, with 233 signatures, was presented to Monday's meeting and the five electors present voted for the flag to be flown.

Yesterday Mrs Bland condemned the decision to take the flag down. "It is disgusting that it had to come to this," she sad.

However, town councillor Alan Hill said: "If a group of people want to see the flag flown from the town hall, which was contrary to a decision made by the town council previously, then they should pay for it.

"This group claim they have the support from the whole town, I would say to them there are over 8,000 people in Calne."