NOW I don't doubt that our councillors went into politics for the right reasons but...

When is Ann Reid going to get the message? I haven't had an early evening meal in York since she introduced parking charges. Now I'm out of the habit of going into York at all.

I haven't bought one single Christmas present in York this year.

Evenings were the only time the city felt like it belonged to the citizens of York. People in Haxby were a lot better off in Ryedale with councils that looked after the locals first and the almighty visitors second.

What about Andrew Waller, who has delivered green bins everywhere and now plans a survey to see if we need them? He must have money to burn.

Steve Galloway says we are going to get new council offices that save money after ten years. Not a chance! When did a public building come in on budget?

Now we are warned that we face an eight per cent rise in taxes to pay for policies and buildings that we neither want nor need. I guess we will have another survey with options to have eight per cent, ten per cent or 12 per cent and when we say the lowest, we will find we've been consulted and we voted for eight per cent.

I really despair!

I remember the reputation the Liberal Democrats used to have. They once claimed to be a sensible party, working hard at local level, listening to the views of local people.

What happened? More importantly, what happened to democracy? Just to remind our council, this is "government of the people, by the people, for the people". Please listen to what people are saying!

John H Bird,

Keldale,

Haxby, York.

Updated: 08:52 Wednesday, December 21, 2005