COUNCIL TAX: IT is about time that the council tax system was reformed. It is becoming expensive, unfair and poor value for money.

My Band D property gets the same services as my neighbours who live in lower band properties. My husband and I pay more than others, yet they have more occupants. Should we pay more than them?

We receive the same services, of the same quality, because our house is only slightly larger. If I were to shop in a supermarket, would I expect to pay more for groceries because my house is larger than someone else in the queue, even though the food in their basket and level of service they get is the same?

There has been a recent outcry as to low winter maintenance services provided last week. While council tax is too high, there is only so much money to go around.

The same people complaining about lack of gritting and ploughing also want first-class education, first-class social services, street lights repaired instantly, litter-free streets.

It is sad that, in order to give to one council department, you must take from another.

Maybe our central Government is at fault for distributing funding unfairly. - Mrs Ellen Carlin, Carrville.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

WE all know Darlington only caters for theme pub-style nights out, with very few live venues and a complete lack of real entertainment on a weekend, but for those who would like to go out elsewhere it seems to be nigh on impossible.

Leaving Darlington is easy enough for a night out, but getting back without paying exorbitant taxi fares, that's another thing.

The X14 bus to Middlesbrough runs its last service back at 6.30pm. Unbelievable. The last train is at 11.05pm on a Saturday, so a nightclub is out of the question and if you were there to see live music you will be missing the end.

Wanting to go out in Newcastle? Tough. The last train to Darlington is at 9.30pm, so again you'll be leaving that theatre/nightclub/gig venue early.

Why are we putting up with this? I for one don't have £50 to travel back from Newcastle at 2am, and I refuse to go to Mardi Gras and dance to "Greased Lightning" every weekend.

Darlington's transport links are terrible, and someone should do something about it, or see about increasing the quality and quantity of entertainment within the town itself.

One late bus or train back from the nearest places with a bit of nightlife on a weekend would be enough. Is that too much to ask? - Paul Wheeler, Darlington.

MARKET CHARTER

SO there we have it. Darlington Council's policy of enforcing its Market Charter, purchased many years ago by their forefathers, which has maintained whatever the political control of the council, has, within a matter of weeks of taking Mr Reynolds to the High Court, been thrown out of the window.

I wonder what was the deciding factor for the council. - John W Antill, Darlington.

DARLINGTON FOOTBALL CLUB

THE break-even figure quoted for Darlington Football Club requires attendances of 6,500.

Once the current euphoria of fund-raising evaporates, it is unlikely that attendances of this level will be achieved by a team near the foot of Division Three.

To rise up the division will require better players, and a higher wage bill, requiring even higher attendances. There is no precedent for Darlington attracting regular support at this level.

The options therefore are:

1. To find a rich benefactor who is willing to fund a loss-making business. This seems unlikely.

2. To move back to Feethams, where the running costs are lower. This would waste a valuable asset - the Reynolds Arena - of which the town should be proud.

3. To permit the use of the arena for non-footballing purposes. This will require a change in planning permission. The council should tell us now, whether it will consider this option.

Our Liberal Democrat councillor on the planning committee supported the proposal for car boot sales, and I believe it is in the interests of the town that the arena be available for other uses - provided there is appropriate control and monitoring of events.

As Chair of the Darlington Liberal Democrats - and a regular attender at Darlington matches - I would urge our Labour council to get behind the club and consider favourably any such requests. - Mike Barker, Chair of the Darlington Liberal Democrats.

TUITION FEES

THE next few days are shaping up to be amongst the most critical faced by Tony Blair's Government. No one knows what Hutton will say but we do know that several of this region's MPs may vote against their own Government on the issue of university tuition fees.

When I attended university in the early 1980s, only ten per cent of my generation were able to do so. This figure has now risen to a welcome 34 per cent, with the ultimate aim being 50 per cent.

As a consequence, the cost to the taxpayer of this provision is set to rise still further. We could meet this additional cost out of general taxation, but the British public has no appetite for tax increases. We therefore have to work with the existing funds.

As a democratic socialist, I want to see a Labour Government acting to help the most disadvantaged, particularly those young children born into poverty or into households on very low incomes.

In comparison, 18-year-olds who have just successfully completed their schooling and have achieved good enough grades to be offered a university place, do not strike me as more deserving.

Hence we should be spending any available education money on increasing the life chances of children born on the edge of society, through programmes like Sure Start, otherwise they will never get five GCSEs let alone the A-levels needed to get to university.

For those MPs who cannot bring themselves to support the Government for reasons of educational principle, I would encourage them to abstain rather than undermine the authority of the most successful leader the Labour Party has ever had. - Coun Paul Brannen, South Gosforth.

IRAQ

I THINK Hugh Pender should realise that many people much prefer the 'weasel' to the 'war-monger'.

According to market research, Tony Blair's personal rating now carries a minus factor while that of Michael Howard is on the up and up.

One of the reasons perhaps why Mr Blair's popularity is on the wane stems from the regular vitriolic letters from Mr Pender and his fellow travellers, roundly condemning Mr Blair for the alliance with George Bush in the invasion of Iraq and the countless loss of hundreds of innocent lives in that venture.

Mr Pender wants us all to ignore what he himself was saying so often in all of his letters, though it would appear that what he once wrote so passionately about, was only empty words. It would seem your readers can make their own judgement about him. - Peter Johnston, Darlington.