If there is one lesson to be learnt from the fracking issue in Balcombe, it is how important local democracy is.

It is all very well people staging demonstrations and camps from outside the area when the body responsible, the parish council, allowed it to go ahead.

It is a reminder of how essential local politics is and how important it is to either stand for election or at least vote.

Parish councils are not even party political, perhaps a sign also of how parties assist democracy at a higher level.

District council, town council, borough, county and Parliament sound boring to many but all cover essential issues.

Despite the current vogue to berate democracy and our system, it is there for all to use. A few signatures is all that is needed for most to stand.

Don’t say politicians are all the same if you cannot be bothered to vote.

Trevor Hopper, Valence Road, Lewes