I WOULD like to respond to a letter from former councillor Derek Stanley in your edition dated December 14. Sorry for the delay but there was always the vain hope that Mr Stanley actually would be holding his breath waiting for my reply.

Mr Stanley says he was not seeking to embarrass me in any way, so one has to wonder what he was trying to do - a question which no doubt occupied the mind of many voters in his ward, while he was supposed to be serving them during his stretch in the last Labour-led administration. Talking of embarrassing situations, perhaps Mr Stanley would care to explain the nature of the inquiries from the authorities, when he had to attend the police station following his last letter to the papers... but maybe not.

I am more than happy that there was nothing inappropriate about my involvement with the illuminations in Happy Mount Park, after all, it was a business that I invested my own money into and it wasn't me, or for that matter anything that I was involved with, which resulted in the loss of more than £2 million of public money on Crinkley Bottom and well over £10,000,000 thrown away on this and that by irresponsible councillors and officers. Local people are left wondering why there is no money left and it's quite simple really - they blew the lot!

The electorate had the foresight to elect the Independents at the last elections and we have been able to put a stop to all this waste before it was too late, it hasn't been easy because you can't stop a train on a sixpence, it takes a certain amount of time, energy and will. But the ball is now firmly in our court and it's up to us to be honest with the public about where their money is. Just because the last Labour lot didn't tell the public that they were raiding reserves doesn't mean it didn't happen does it Mr Stanley?

Mr Stanley is more than welcome to consult with anybody involved, that's why audited accounts are a matter of public record and are available to anyone who wishes to view them, you can see them or any private (limited) or public (plc) company on microfilm at the local library. This course of action is unlikely though because it involves getting off his backside, checking the facts and then having to eat humble pie, things that for years, the local Labour group have not been very good at. We've had plenty from the local Labour group about Crinkley Bottom... it was Noel Edmonds, it was Paul Pascoe, it was all the councillors, it was the barrister's advice, it was the alignment of the planets etc. Perhaps Mr Stanley would like to offer his explanations for this Labour-led cock-up or perhaps he'd rather stick to writing his pathetic poison-pen letters with the intention of nothing other than smear by innuendo.

He should stick to dealing with facts and the fact is Mr Stanley that you , like most of your colleagues locally, are yesterday's man. Accept this and you stand a chance of not appearing so bitter at being booted out by the electorate. Happy New year!

Cllr Nick Westwell, Harbour Ward, MBI Group