I DO not complain about everything that Blackburn with Darwen Council do, only when they waste our money, which is far too often.

Councillor Smith, defending the £38,000 being spent on a survey, says that it is only 0.028 per cent of the budget. That may be so, but £38,000 would have repaired a lot of council houses.

I repeat what I said in my previous letter that the council already know what the people of the borough want: low council rents, a low council tax and good services which give value for money.

Councillor Smith then says that low council rents and a low council tax can only be achieved by drastic cuts in services. And he asks me which school or home I would close?

Yet after speaking to a Conservative councillor, I was told that had the Conservative's budget proposals been accepted last May, council tenants would have had no rent rises, instead of the 5 per cent rise imposed by the ruling Labour Group.

On the council tax, had the Conservatives been in charge last May there would have been a saving of £1.5 million. And there would have been no cuts in vital services. However, money would be saved by scrapping some of the projects which Labour waste money on.

Also, if the Conservatives had been in charge, all areas of the borough would have equal access to the funds available instead of, as happens now, a few areas receive the bulk of the funding. I observe that Councillor Smith did not say anything about how the high rents are killing off our markets?

Plus, the Conservative Group on the council were against the increases in car park charges, which is deterring people from shopping in Blackburn and Darwen town centres.

Councillor Doherty and his fellow Labour councillors built up their large majority during 19 years of a Conservative government. Many voters used the local elections as a protest vote against the Government. That no longer applies. Instead, the protest vote will go to their political opponents.

Last May, while there were no elections in this borough, there were elections in Accrington and Rossendale and Labour suffered many losses.

All over the world in elections people are voting for a change in who governs them. I look forward to that happening here after many years of Labour misrule.

J LEE (Mrs), Ramsgreave Drive, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.