IT IS no surprise the British public are opting out — they just don't want to know anymore about anything very much — whether it be the latest bank disaster, the biggest fraud, or pension payoffs.

People want to bolt their doors and repeat to themselves 'an Englishman's home is his castle'.

No wonder only 28.3 per cent of people in Churston, Torbay, voted in the recent local council elections and just 10 per cent in one part of Dartmouth.

So I thought why don't I try to do something about this apparent inertia?

I resolved to tackle the second home problem because it accounts for an increasingly large percentage of the electorate in South Devon and, if approached properly, could help rebuild fragmented communities.

I therefore wrote a letter to a sample of second home owners in the Salcombe area asking them to consider registering to vote here and suggesting they might like to get more involved in the life and development of their own community.

Some are already doing it and we want to encourage more.

From the declining numbers at the local primary school to the economic survival of the village pub, there is little which isn't affected as a result of second home occupancy. Furthermore, many who purchase second homes do so as a prelude to settling down here in their retirement.

Others enjoy spending time off here, whether school holidays or weekends.

The letter won the approval of the Commons Administration and Finance Office for its democratic initiative.

Now we all know Lib Dems love to whinge.

Therefore it came as no surprise that Chris Ramsay, chairman of the Lib Dem Totnes Association, told a reporter of this journal about her view on second home owners:

"Neither the owners nor the people who lend their holiday homes care two hoots about rubbish collection, the state of the roads or anything like that.

"It's our patch and it's our area and I resent that an MP wants to take the vote to people who don't give a tinker's cuss about the area." (Herald Express, February 20)

Forgive me, madam, but second home owners do care very much, that's why they keep coming down here and that's why they bought a property here in the first place.

It's illogical to think they wouldn't care — rubbish collection and the standard of the roads affects them as it does other members of the community.

They want to see the area improved and flourish just as others do.

Instead of having a scapegoat mentality we should embrace all those who live in our area wherever they come from.

We all know there has been a decline in the numbers of permanent residents for some time, but remember permanence inevitably includes those who spend periods away at work, take breaks visiting family and friends, and even indulge in a long summer holiday abroad.

The question is how do we reverse a trend towards non-involvement and non-commitment?

Do we simply continue to blame all our woes on second home owners?

Or do we pursue an active policy of encouraging them to get more involved, especially as they do contribute considerably to the economic prosperity of many small coastal and rural towns?

It is quite clear second home owners do give more than a 'tinker's cuss' and it is wrong to single them out.

They may be a minority, but they shouldn't be discriminated against.

I would have thought advising people of their democratic rights would have been welcomed.