THE people have had their say on the future of local government in the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen and the council have got what they wanted all along - a leader and cabinet.

But how disappointing that such a small number took the chance to make their views known.

The choices, which included an all-powerful Ken Livingstone style mayoralty, were clearly spelled out .

But Coun Paul Browne hits the nail on the head when he describes the response to the council's public consultation as "pathetic."

Just 253 voting forms were returned from 63,000 delivered copies of the council's Shuttle newspaper.

When it came to their own employees only 73 replied out of the 6,500 asked to vote.

It could be argued that the council could have promoted the consultative process more imaginatively but on the other hand it tried everything most other authorities did to try to whip up interest in the biggest change in local government organisation for at least 25 years. They might even have done more than some. Reliable bin collections, litter-free streets, pleasant parks, attractive shopping centres, good public transport and well gritted roads in winter are just a few of the things we all want to see.

Is the reason for apathy that most people don't feel involved enough in the local government process?

Involvement, after all, means knowing what is going on and being a real part of the decision making process.

Central to this is the ability to make your views known BEFORE decisions are taken.

That means having plenty of time to canvass the views of your neighbours, contact your local newspaper and maybe collect signatures for a petition if necessary.

You cannot do that if important decisions are only made public after they have been taken.

You cannot do it either if important decisions are taken in private under the cloak of a catch-all act used to cloak official embarrassment.

Greater openness is the key to stimulating greater interest in local government. Our pledge to you is to fight against secrecy and for the free flow of information from local government at every opportunity.