SOON we will all have received a Council Tax demand and the residents of Ribble Valley will reap the rewards for the seeds sown in May, 1995, when they elected a hung council of 19 Conservatives, 19 Liberal Democrats and one Labour councillor.

On the scant information made available in the Press, it would seem that we are faced with a rise of almost 18 per cent in the Ribble Valley Council's element of the Council Tax and, at the same time, a reduction by compulsory redundancies of approximately 10 per cent in the staff - which must mean a 10 per cent reduction in service - and a reduction of 40 per cent in the grants for village halls and community projects.

To add to this sorry tale, there are increases in council charges and rents well above the rate of inflation, and, to add insult to injury, proposals to charge for parking.

At the debate in the council chamber, I am told that the 19 Liberal Democrats and the one Labour councillor were united in looking for scapegoats to hide their own incompetence.

Not surprisingly, they tried to blame the Government and then joined together to try to pass the buck to the council and staff, calling for a management review.

The public will not be fooled. They will assume, quite correctly, that the responsibility for the most disastrous Council Tax in the history of Ribble Valley rests firmly on the 39 elected councillors.

W FLEMING, Hillcrest Road, Langho.

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