Hear All Sides

COUNCIL TAX

DURHAM County Council is to increase its council tax by 14.8 per cent and Sedgefield Borough by an estimated 12.5 per cent, at a time when inflation levels are approximately two per cent.

If the final Sedgefield Borough increase is 12.5 per cent and is added to last year's 6.8 per cent increase, this is almost a 20 per cent rise in two years.

It comes at a time when many workers have lost their jobs and are operating on smaller household budgets.

Sedgefield council should scrap the Inform magazine, which costs £50,000 a year. Do we need to spend large amounts of money on a Community Force which has no powers of arrest? What the public wants is more police "on the beat", supported by special constables.

The leisure centre's costs are rising. Sedgefield Borough needs to carry out extensive market research to ensure that prices are competitive and that a minimum cost is passed onto tax payers.

The North-East is getting a raw deal from the Labour Government. Our Standard Spending Assessment grant levels are below the affluent South.

The Barnett Formula needs updating. This outdated formula costs the region over £1bn in Government grants. - LibDem Councillor Ben Ord, Spennymoor Ward, Sedgefield Borough Council.

THE four contributors (HAS, Feb 9) on the council tax rise can be assured that the tax will continue to rise, inexorably, by large chunks year after year and no amount of eloquent letters to newspapers or even a vote against their councillor will make even the slightest difference.

This is because the largest budget commitment is to the upward spiralling staff costs in salaries, pension contributions, expenses and working conditions which must be enhanced each year. No way out?

Maybe, but only if a massive public outcry demands fundamental changes in the way in which the services are managed and public accountability by the budget managers. - GA Bastin, Northallerton.

I WOULD like to know how much our councillors are getting paid to decide on a 12.5 per cent increase in council tax.

Would it be possible to publish a list of councillors and their wages and expense allowances for council duties?

The council elections in May could be determined by the amount of remuneration each candidate gets, rather than the manifestos they preach.

I feel that those who want to save us money rather than looking for ways to spend it would get a more favourable voting response. The facilities of the Dolphin Centre, Civic Theatre and Arts Centre are all excellent for those who can afford them, but the majority of people, pensioners and others like myself on a limited income, should not have to subsidise or fund coachloads of out of town theatregoers, fund others in their leisure pursuits or support facilities that are not capable of self-funding or making a profit. - Ronald Brown, Darlington.

THE POST OFFICE

THE demise of the Post Office can be compared with the fall of the mining industry. Coal was the driving force for every part of life, but the advent of North Sea oil and gas, and the ability to gather it from a hostile environment and harness its advantages, removed the reliance on coal.

Technology has now impinged on the heart of the communications industry. First it was the quick phone call, instead of a letter. Documents once hand delivered are now faxed for an immediate delivery.

And now e-mail delivers a letter at a fraction of the cost of postage, and it arrives within seconds. Mobile phones will soon have the ability to deliver a letter while the sender is on the move.

I believe, by 2050, a computer will be installed in every home in the land, as an integral fitting, such as a door. The Internet will be the mode of communication. Consignia/Post Office will only be competing in the world of parcel delivery or even phased out as uneconomical. - C Matthews, Newton Aycliffe.

ART GALLERY

LAST year Darlington council informed regular users of the Crown Street Art Gallery that bookings would not be taken for dates after 2002. A promise was given to consult those affected by plans to convert the gallery into a computer suite. Nothing has been heard since about that consultation, which ought to precede and influence any decision.

At the opening of the Darlington Society of Arts exhibition last October, the Deputy Mayor suggested drawing up a petition of those in favour of the retention of the art gallery in Crown Street. This was done but the sheets of signatures were confiscated because it was not allowed on council premises. Later, a request was made for the names and addresses of other exhibitors and organisations using the gallery but this was refused because it would be an infringement of the Data Protection Act.

The Oxford dictionary defines "to consult" as "to seek permission or approval for proposed action". Councils and their officials, perhaps, speak a different language. - EG Hill, Darlington.