I WRITE in somewhat amazement following the letter from the Leader of the Independent Community and Health Concern , Howard Martin, concerning the district council’s recent budget.

To read his letter you would believe that he and his group are the only ones that care about the residents of Wyre Forest and that the local council is implementing these changes when it does not have to. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The district council has no desire to see the Dial-a-Ride service cease; in fact it has taken many steps over recent years to help to continue to secure its services. Now we have over 12 months to work with Dial-a-Ride to agree a way forward that is acceptable to them, its users and the council.

One thing that is not an option is the status quo.

The district council has worked with a wide range of councillors from lots of political persuasions to reach the budget decisions it had to make last month. None of these decisions were taken lightly. Indeed the raft of measures that the district council had to take were even voted for by some of Health Concern’s own members. So this political posturing now by the Leader of the Health Concern group is somewhat transparent in its attempt at political point-scoring.

As a local council we have a duty to protect all of our services. The council has to ensure it is viable this year, next year and in coming years to continue to provide services at a low council tax level at a time when people are feeling the very strong economic pinch.

The council does not subscribe to Howard Martin’s view that we can just pass the cost of everything directly onto the taxpayer. The taxpayer has suffered enough in this district. Gone are the days of Health Concern’s five per cent increases, gone are the days of Health Concern throwing good money after bad. The district council makes no apology for keeping the council tax increase well below the rate of inflation at a time when people are losing their jobs and homes in what can only be described as a very deep recession. In Howard Martin’s letter it asserts that the district council intends to spend up to £15million on new offices. This is blatantly inaccurate.

What the district council does have is a plan to consolidate its six inefficient offices into one office to make considerable savings (up to £500,000 per year) to ensure that we can protect important local services. What is the alternative? Does Howard Martin endorse the continued waste of public money?

The district council does not claim to have all of the answers to the challenges that we face together. Can I suggest that Howard Martin ceases to try to score cheap political points and instead starts the much harder job of helping us to address the tough challenges that face the residents of Wyre Forest.

JOHN CAMPION Leader Wyre Forest District Council