Sir – The two Liberal Democrat spokesmen who wrote to you last week, defending their cheapening of the Hatfield Town Centre issue just confirmed what most people suspect of their party: that they do not have any constructive ideas for actually governing;

Sir - The two Liberal Democrat spokesmen who wrote to you last week, defending their cheapening of the Hatfield Town Centre issue just confirmed what most people suspect of their party: that they do not have any constructive ideas for actually governing; that they will say anything to get influence and that they don't really understand the situation.

Hatfield Town Centre has suffered from the difficulties faced by a serious economic slowdown; which began about a year ago and has recently worsened. It does not need to suffer further from petty name calling by the Lib Dems. For all their "we who know best" preaching, holding the administration to account, they do so very ineffectually, choosing a short cut.

Theirs is a blunt and unconstructive approach. They know that it will have little effect but they choose to follow such a route rather than the most useful approach of people like Action Hatfield, who at least have put forward proposals for the town, most of which seem to have been taken up by the Conservative-led council.

That's people power, not the cheap aimless abuse from a party that has seen little electoral success in this borough over several years.

The Liberal councillors should work collectively with their fellow councillors as some of their Labour counterparts are doing, to bring Hatfield Town Centre into a major shopping and commercial point that Hatfield residents can be proud of.

Dave Kay, Birchwood, Hatfield.

Sir - In response to several letters over the past few weeks concerning Hatfield town's redevelopment, those correspondents have short memories. As far as I can remember anger over the town not now being redeveloped was because the Conservative leadership withheld valuable information about its postponement, only releasing it on the very day of the local elections, and I bet they are glad they did.

So those of us who voted on the day had been duped into thinking that the redevelopment would still go ahead. This was reflected by the by-election in the Hatfield North ward where Conservatives were clearly shown the door.

The Conservative leadership has allowed this to happen, as the council leadership chose the contractor and negotiated the contract and allowed the get-out clauses.

The Liberal Democrats have a civic and moral duty to point out these repeated leadership failures to the community of Hatfield and the Conservative leadership by allowing our home town to fall into an absolute downright mess. The government has nothing whatsoever to do with it and neither have global economic conditions, which of course, both are now being used as an excuse for continued Conservative failures in our home town.

Well, it's about time Conservatives and their followers wake up and smell the fair-trade coffee as the Conservative leadership has systematically allowed our home town to slowly ebb into a sink estate state years before this present global economic crisis even existed.

Edward Selby, Wood Common, Hatfield.