Apart from the High Street, which is kept reasonably tidy though rarely weeded, our city is dirty and ill-kempt. Many gutters around the city are blocked, some for many years, causing rainwater to flow over them in a rush to find the area of dispersal. Leaves have still not been cleared around the larger part of the city, and gutters are clogged with them – they’ve been there for at least three months and are wet and slippery, a danger to young and old, quite apart from not looking very pleasant. Where I live, overlooking Oram’s Arbour, graffiti has been on the old hospital walls for several months, and the bollard light on the bend of the path hasn’t worked for a couple of years. Roads and pavements are in an appalling state, being patched badly by contractors of all varieties.
Our city is run by councillors, both county and city, and they are paid for this job. So I ask “Are they doing the job and, if not, are they worth the money we residents spend on them?” One of my ward councillors is both a county and a city councillor, and thus gets over £27,000 from the city and over £14,000 from the county. I certainly expect that for an income for just one councillor of over £41,000, my city should be given more official care and attention and not look as though we’re in one of the most run-down countries in the world. Earlier today I received a newsletter from the Lib Dems, extolling their superiority over the Tories – this may well be true but the bar is set very low.
Julia Sandison,
Clifton Road,
Oram’s Arbour,
Winchester
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