Pot hole problem demonstrates need for rethink

Dear Editor As a native of the village of Bankfoot I am sure I am not alone in voicing my concern about the deteriorating state of Carriers Entry, the lane which unites the main street to Prieston Road.

The lane serves the residents of Church Place and Cross Street and unites New Hall Street, but it is used by residents of Prieston Road as a short cut to the village shop.

Such is the neglect of the lane that deep pot holes make it dangerous for both motorists and pedestrians and in time more holes will appear.

But the worst section of the lane is from the bridge over the Coral Burn by the old church hall the main street.

Such is the deterioration of this section that when it rains it is in its entirety pure mud.

Just recently I slipped on the mud cutting my hand, and I am an OAP.

It seems complains to the council have fallen on deaf ears. Perhaps Councillor John Kellas, who resides in the village, should walk the lane in wet weather. Thomas Brown, Church Place, Bankfoot

Council services such as roads maintenance and education are in a mess, while council tax and business rates increases do not seem to keep up with council expenditure.

The years pass and our local councils continue to indulge their fantasies with expensive and non-urgent schemes such as Perth’s bid for the title of City of Culture.

It would be interesting to know just what percentage of our council tax goes towards paying interest on council borrowing to finance their grandiose schemes.

Meanwhile, councillors protest that they cannot afford to maintain basic services. The atrocious state of our roads is only the most visible of the consequences.

Councillors seem to have forgotten their main raison d’etre - to maintain basic services. Their standard response to criticism is to brush it aside with bland statements pointing out all the advantages which will accrue from their plans for the future. Meanwhile, nothing is done to stop the rot in services. If councillors acknowledge the deterioration in these basics, it is only to pass the buck to our central governments in Edinburgh and London.

I am concerned not only by council debt, but also be over-manning , overpaying and overpromoting in staffing and in council committees.

Council workers not only have security, but are very well-paid as well – and they enjoy early retirement with very comfortable pensions.

Meanwhile, promoted posts seem to proliferate, judging by the array of fancy titles for council staff which appear in the press from time to time.

Then councillors were not paid salaries at one time. The work was voluntary, with councillors receiving only expenses. Now they are very well paid indeed, with expenses on top of that, plus extra money if in promoted posts, such as committee conveners.

Do we actually need so many councillors and so many promoted posts among councillors and staff? Do we require as many staff as we have at present? The whole system seems completely haywire.

Salaries of MPs and local councillors, civil servants and local government employees should be organised from the bottom up, with salaries calculated on the responsibility involved and the work done.

Why do the Westminster and Holyrood governments not undertake a root-andbranch reform of the numbers and salaries and put it all on a sound logical basis?

It is not just councils who have to put their houses in order, however. Once they have been sorted out, our governments both in Westminster and Holyrood should put their own houses in order. A good start would be the House of Lords which is way too large for a start.

It could become an entirely elected chamber, voted in by the electorate in the same way as the House of Commons, but with fewer representatives, of course. Wide-ranging changes these, but we could make a modest start by putting the hems on our vainglorious and overstaffed councils - and get rid of our pot holes! George McMillan, by email