ELECTED MAYOR

IT'S the residents' town and they should elect their own mayor to run it under one of the options which are explained in Darlington Borough Council's leaflet - Be Mayor Aware.

The elected mayor and cabinet would be ideal. The mayor could form his/her cabinet from all parties, utilising members' own expertise in business and management to form an efficient body.

He/she then may go further and model the organisation on grounds similar to that used by the Mayor of Hartlepool, which seems to be very popular with residents there considering the massive increase in his majority at his re-election.

Unlike Darlington, their model includes open cabinet and council meetings where the public can attend and hear directly what is being discussed.

The elected mayor may spell the end of the traditional borough mayor, but that may be quite insignificant as the town has already lost its identity due to the Pedestrian Heart/High Row fiasco.

An elected mayor would bring the return of democracy to the town and may be send a few members of the existing cabinet back to another planet. - L Hume, Darlington.

RAIL HERITAGE

IT would appear from reports that the track bed of the 1825 Stockton and Darlington Railway has been found while working on the Eastern Transport Corridor.

My cousin from Toronto, Canada, came over two or three years ago and wanted to see the route of the first railway because they recognise in Canada the significance and importance of the first passenger railway. I took him to the part in Darlington and we were both shocked and appalled at the neglected state.

One of the newspapers in Canada, I think it was the Toronto Globe and Mail, came over to find the route of the railway, but had to give up because they could not find it and they wrote a very scathing article about how we neglect our heritage, which is true.

I have been saying for a long time that we have a potential World Heritage Site here in Darlington. Something that would really put us on the map, but nothing has been done to preserve this important site for future generations.

I would like to appeal to Darlington Borough Council, even at this late stage, to try to preserve this very important historical site before it is lost for ever.- Alan Macnab, Darlington.

TOWN IMAGE

DARLINGTON is known as a market town, a railway town, a mill town, a floral town and a friendly town. So why, in the new Pedestrian Heart scheme, is the main motif repeated on the planters, the base of the light feature and the steps of the water feature a bar code?

I think this says about us this is a town obsessed with commerce and it wants your money - and that is not the message I think we should be sending out.

It really offends me and I'm just grateful it is so nondescript as an image that perhaps not too many will realise just what it is supposed to represent.

Even so, I bet it cost us quite a lot to have embellished on the features I mentioned. - Beryl Hankin, Darlington.

RACE FOR LIFE

I MUST congratulate the organisers and competitors at the Race for Life in South Park, Darlington, on Sunday. However, I had the misfortune to come across the one who didn't seem to care.

Asking him to get himself and his dogs off the path took a concerted effort. A few more seconds and a nasty accident could have happened.

It is truly amazing to find someone who can't give up taking their dogs to the park for just one hour in one day, once a year, for what is one of Britain's leading charities. Anyway, the event went off fine and lots of money was raised. Well done to all. - John Brant, Darlington.