WE HAVE a farcical situation here in Blaenau Gwent where our council is three times bigger than Cardiff council per head of population; and at 42 councillors for a population of 69,000 people, we have more councillors per head of population than any other council in the UK.

And in an effort to reduce the deficit, we are having unprecedented cuts to our public services.

We no longer have any public toilets in the borough, we are reduced to one waste salvage site (which has increased the amount of fly tipping), numerous community sites have been closed, students are facing a possible cut to their travelling costs, plus many more cuts. We are faced with an unattainable challenge in virtually paying for and sustaining two councils, such is the number of our councillors in relation to the population. This which is unjustifiable and completely indefensible and presents the people of this borough with an insurmountable challenge., and Far from being an asset to the borough, our council is a burden. If the number of councillors we have was representative of other councils, we would be saving several hundred thousand pounds per year, which would alleviate the need for many of the cuts we have had to contend with.

Many of the population who complain to each other about how the cuts affect them should be far more vocal and make their voices heard. Why are they paying for two councils? Why are services being cut instead of councillors? Are they happy to be paying for and sustaining two councils while enduring cuts to public services to save money? The council themselves should provide a few answers to the people they purport to represent and be looking after.

Ralph Hanney, Aberbeeg