I WAS very disappointed by Maldon District Council's decision at its most recent meeting to vote down the motion (15 to 13) to allow councillors with experience and expertise to sit on the various sub committees, regardless of their political affiliation.

It was argued by the leader that, since these committees "only" make recommendations rather than decisions, it is unnecessary to have either expertise or balance.

This begs several questions.

1) How reliable are the recommendations made to full council, if those with local knowledge have been excluded from the debate?

2) When we, the people of the Maldon district, elect a councillor to represent our interests on issues connected to our specific part of the district, are we aware that our representatives may potentially be excluded in this manner, if they are of a different political persuasion from the council majority and therefore will be unlikely to have any real say on the issue?

3) If we do know, are we happy with this? I for one am certainly not.

4) Given that recommendations may have been made only by people of the same political persuasion as the majority, is the vote then not simply a rubber stamping?

5) Should committees not be made up of the best people for the job, regardless of their political persuasion?

I would be interested to know what other Maldon district residents feel about this issue.

Liz Carlton

St Lawrence Bay