SUPPORTERS of regional government continue to claim that its introduction will bring local government nearer to the people.

This claim is nonsense when one considers what will actually happen. The North West region will stretch from the Scottish borders to Cheshire and will encompass 7,000,000 people.

It is suggested that an elected Assembly of 35 members will represent this huge electorate.

District councils would be abolished and replaced by large unitaries, where the councillor-to-elector ratio will possibly be increased by a factor of at least three.

Of greater concern is the likelihood of the domination of the Merseyside/Greater Manchester axis and the down-grading of rural issues as compared with problems associated with major urban cores.

It is certain that the introduction of regional government will be hugely expensive due to the massive changes resulting from local government reorganisation and much of the cost will be borne by Council Tax payers who, in my opinion, will not be closer, but very much further away from those exercising power on their behalf.

COUN CHARLES WARKMAN, Hob Green, Mellor.