PETER Waterfield JP in his letter last week, is quite right to express concern with regard to the consultation process which has resulted in the closure of 93 Courts including the Fenland Magistrates Court in Wisbech.

In my view this has been a done deal all along and any pretence at consultation by the Justice Minister Mr Djanogy was just that.

Is it any coincidence that the Minister in his role as a constituency MP as well as Minister for Justice, represents Huntingdon a town which has had substantial sums of public money spent on a new courthouse building in recent times?

Many in the Fens will be forced to make a 50 mile round trip in future, whether they attend court in Peterborough or Huntingdon despite the considerable problems that will cause in terms of cost and time in getting to and fro, particularly for those unfortunates who have to use public transport (I suspect non appearance in court will become a regular feature). This scandalous episode exposes Mr Cameron’s rhetoric about localism and bringing decision making closure to the people as the sham that it is.

Slashing costs regardless of the consequences, is all the Conservatives are interested in and it is areas like Fenland that will suffer the most!

REG KEMP

Scargells Lane

March