Don Benson, chairman of the Heybridge Residents’ Association (Letters, December 5), has a right to extract information out of Maldon District Council for its top-secret flood alleviation plan for Holloway Road.

His efforts were in vain, but one must question did a scheme ever exist in the first place?

The only other reason to explain the council’s reluctance must be because its rushed through Local Development Plan allowed the land behind Holloway Road to be developed before any feasible scheme was designed and costed.

Unfortunately, it seems it is now commonplace for various authorities to treat the people who pay their wages with disrespect when all they are asking for is information that should be routinely made available to the public.

Surely it is right that people can know that what is proposed will be suitable for their area and anyone has a right to question or get answers from people who are responsible for agreeing to changes.

A similar concern is the still unfinished concrete culvert at Mundon Wash where nobody seems to have any idea when it will be completed. Has there ever been a project so poorly thought through and ill managed? The cost now must be enormous.

I still can’t understand how a reinforced concrete culvert which in turn was encased in 4ft of concrete was deemed so dangerous it had to be demolished immediately with no prior warning?

All we get is one excuse after another for the delay, too hot, too cold too wet, nesting birds; let’s hope a worker doesn’t spot a reindeer that’s strayed off its flight path before Christmas.

A bridge on a similar busy route in the area has been closed for months with the same old excuse trotted out, health and safety.

How can it be that an engineer inspects a bridge, immediately declares it so unsafe it has to be closed to traffic?

Surely these structures are regularly inspected?

Why couldn’t two-way traffic lights be put up at the old railway bridge in Stow Maries, only recently has somebody finally thought to impose a one-way system in the adjoining lanes before a serious accident occurred.

I have listened to all the respective candidates in the election and can’t really see much difference in any of them when watched on TV.

Maybe ticking a box stating “none of the above” isn’t such a bad thing, but I expect somebody will write in objecting to that.

I can’t be the only one who would like to see a bit more accountably from local and national leaders and when they say they are for the people; they really mean it.

Robbie Green

Fambridge Road, Maldon