[Robert]

Have you any suggestions?

You need to market the idea of a unitary authority better. It just looks like sour grapes from the Lib Dems as an easier chance of getting more power and the Tories and New Tories just doing as ordered by Brussels. Unless you can sell the idea of a unitary authority better then I think we should stay as is and vote out the current county council lot next year.

If they aren't voted out then we're in the minority obviously and as we're a democracy we'll have to live with that decision. Given where UA's are leading and the fact no-one acknowledged this during the consultation period makes me wonder that this hasn't been well thought through or just disregarded with it just being a way for you to get more power regardless of the consequences. It just looked strange in the papers for me to read of the Lib-Dem group saying it was a way of removing a Labour stranglehold on Burnley but on the other hand the Labour group were all in support, it just wasn't right to me.

That's unlikely. The finances are stacked against this. Going round everyone's house twice as often costs almost twice as much. The increase in Council Tax would be prohibitive, and probably capped by Government. The easy-sounding answer is to find savings from somewhere else. Sack some faceless bureaucrats, find efficiencies here and there, stop having Mayor's balls etc. It's easy to come up with plausible-sounding examples and I do believe there is more that can be done, but it's not nearly as easy as people think. The savings don't have nearly as many zeros as the costs.

Then there is the argument that it works out cheaper in the long-run because of the fly-tipping, side waste, rats, etc. caused by "alternate weekly collections" as we are told we must call them. Sadly, these maths don't stack up either once you look at it properly. The environment scrutiny committee is doing some work on it at the moment and anyone who'd like to know more can come to observe the meetings or speak at the start of the meeting to ask questions.

At the moment the Council's priority is on sorting out problems with the white sacks and blue boxes, which tend to blow about all over the place.

I understand the finances etc. but people are baffled as to why council tax increases are so high and why services like bins appear to have to have been cut back. For all the reasoning etc. and I'm sure you are doing your best it still will seem unsatisfactory.

Originally Posted by Darren Reynolds

There's a grain of truth in this, but it's a bit like a depressed person who gets no medical treatment until he attempts suicide. That doesn't make suicide a good idea. It just shows how broken the system is.

Same with Burnley. Government money on its own can't fix all our problems. There will never be enough of it. Instead we need partnerships with the private sector. BNP activism makes Burnley look ugly. We need to create a positive image of Burnley that will make manufacturing companies want to invest here. That image has to be based on reality. That means cleaning the streets, controlling anti-social behaviour and having something to be proud of and to aspire to.

Positive feelings are fairly easy to have when you put your mind to it, and feeling good about our home town is as good a place to start as any.

I'm sure you are aware of a few elected BNP officials in Burnley who on the whole are doing the job expected of them and have been asked to give comment to outside bodies etc. They can't be ignored and the national image of the BNP aside, the current four when looking at them as just councillors are able to put across the views of what may be a minority of people in Burnley but I feel are vital in being middle men to people in Burnley disenfranchised from mainstream politics. Even if the BNP councillors go, they will still retain a core vote and will still appeal to people in Burnley disenfranchised from mainstream politics, they should not be ignored. I like to think of them as a safety valve.

I think we can all agree with your last points and now that the Lib-Dems are running the council, its time to put those words into action and be judged on your actions in the upcoming elections.