A TOWN clerk has reported serious misgivings after attending a meeting about a proposed agency pilot scheme.

Mr Geoff Bosworth, clerk to Barnard Castle Town Council, had been to the meeting between Durham County Council, the secretary of the Durham association of parish and town councils and representatives from three parish and town councils.

But although £8-10,000 would be made available for councils to take on an initial tenuous list of activities on adopted highways and rights of way, such as grass cutting, filling salt bins, bus shelter cleaning and reporting street light faults, he had severe misgivings about becoming involved. Things might alter with the Rural White Paper, and the other parish councils had misgivings as well.

Coun Maurice Abrahams said it seemed like some kind of exercise to allow the county council to get rid of its responsibilities. But the town council had no offices of its own and did not employ staff, therefore it had no means of carrying out this scheme.

Coun John Hinchcliffe felt it important to object strongly: "We want nowt to do with this," he said.

Coun Eric Fell thought it worth some consideration, but it revolved around where the finance was coming from. They had no offices, money or machinery and would be starting from scratch. He felt the only thing on the list they would be able to implement was the removal of unauthorised signs and obstructions, which they often complained about to county hall. "But if we took this on we would get all the hassle," he commented.

In his report Mr Bosworth said it had now been recognised that much more discussion was needed about the scheme.