YET again we seem to be throwing money into developments that haven't been properly investigated by the council.

The new bus terminal is to cost £2 million, but like Salt Ayre the cost will spiral because of the lack of proper administration by the council. I would like to know why the bus station was closed weeks before the tenders were found to be higher than expected, and how did the council come to the figure of £2 million in the first place if the tenders are a lot higher.

Also for the life of me why Stagecoach & other bus companies that will use the station get away with not helping finance the project as they will be the main beneficiaries of this massive investment, as with bus lanes, they use them so they should contribute to some extent towards them. Yet again the overspend will be met by the council tax payer who can ill afford to pay the outrageous tax that we have this year. The council is the only organization that can call upon untold amounts of cash from people living in the district, without making cuts to keep the tax bill down, as we have to pay it with no choice, you never hear of job cuts etc. to keep the tax down but you see many new council vehicles, dog muck car running around passing piles of it, at what cost, new grass cutting machines, at what cost? Recycling wagon, at what cost? These machines cost a fortune to buy and also to run.

On a side note I would also like to know how many of the councillors that help run this area have any knowledge in business studies, if any, in the running of a successful business which at the end of the day the council is, surely they would of gone bankrupt years ago if it wasn't for the council tax payer bailing them out every year.

Ian Fleetwood vie e-mail