Over forty years ago, my father served as a local town councillor. The role required a great deal of time, dedication and, in many cases, expense. When he became a senior councillor he took on a lot more responsibility and acted as chairman of committees, all of which took place in the daytime until eventually he had to reluctantly resign. The simple reason for this resignation was, that as a small shopkeeper (whatever happened to those?) he would have had to employ an assistant to cover the extra hours when he was on council business, and this he could not afford.

There were no cabinets, portfolios and fat ‘salaries’ in those days but there was a great deal of commitment, civil pride and the right calibre of individuals running our towns.

Could this be where it has now all gone so very wrong?

Jennifer Blackman, Heather View Road, Parkstone