I WAS horrified to learn from Brakespeare s diary that Fenland District Council is poised to engage PR consultants. What is the council s hierarchy thinking of? Fenland Council is in place to deliver services to the local taxpayers. The local newspapers w

I WAS horrified to learn from Brakespeare's diary that Fenland District Council is poised to engage PR consultants. What is the council's hierarchy thinking of?

Fenland Council is in place to deliver services to the local taxpayers. The local newspapers write about the delivery of local services and the letters column permits the public to air its views on the delivery of services. Nothing wrong with that.

The engagement of PR consultants can only have the effect of putting a 'spin" on stories and the council's performance. I do not wish to have my good money wasted in this manner. As a matter of fact I regard such expenditure to be a mis-use of public funds.

If the ruling Conservatives feel the need for PR consultants, then I consider it is the Conservative Party that should pay for them, not the taxpayers.

And more to the point, if these councillors feel the performance of Fenland Council is such that reports of its performance need to be 'spun' to make them sound acceptable, then clearly there is a pretty severe problem within the council.

The correct and proper action of the cabinet and councillors is to do the job they were elected to do, and make certain the council's performance is good.

In many ways, running a local authority can be compared with running a business, but not in this case. It is perfectly reasonable for a business to engage PR consultants to improve 'customer perception' in a competitive market. However, Fenland Council is not operating in a competitive market place.

We, the residents, have to rely on the council for delivery of the range of services we have paid for. I abhor the squandering of money unnecessarily, particularly when there is so much that needs to be done in Fenland that comes within the remit of the district council.

CHRISTINE COLBERT

Pound Road

Chatteris