I write in response to your article about the local authority governor position at the new Colchester Academy (Gazette, October 18), which has gone to Labour councillor Julie Young.

During my five years as parent-governor at Sir Charles Lucas Arts College, which has now become the academy, governors, staff and pupils worked hard to get the school out of special measures successfully.

Mrs Young has now become local authority governor at the academy instead of Abi Reid, who has a child at the school.

County councillor Mrs Young states the local authority governor should have a connection with the local authority.

Well, during my time there, we never had a county councillor on board, but our local authority governor didn’t have any communication problems with Essex County Council, as far as I was aware of.

According to the Essex County Council website, the decision to appoint Ms Reid as its preferred candidate was made in August. This was overturned on October 11, in what I feel is a very unbalanced and unfair procedure.

How can you possibly have a fair appeals system when only councillors can have a say?

Does this now mean Essex County Council has to make do with its second choice of governor, as clearly this appointment wasn’t its preferred choice?

Otherwise, surely it would have given the job to Mrs Young in the first place.

It wasn’t too long ago that Julie Young and her husband Tim were featured in this paper defending their incomes gained from council expenses.

In that article they talked about the amount of hours they put in. I, therefore, find it quite amazing Mrs Young feels the need to deprive a well-known and respected local resident of a place on the governing body when her husband already sits on it.

I would have thought her time could have been better spent elsewhere.

Mark Warner
Redwood Close
Colchester