Sir – I have just received a letter, and I suspect many others have as well, from Cllr John Dean entitled Hatfield Town Centre – What s Going On. He cites things he will do such as new toilets, CCTV, etc. All these things the residents listed as a start

Sir - I have just received a letter, and I suspect many others have as well, from Cllr John Dean entitled Hatfield Town Centre - What's Going On.

He cites things he will do such as new toilets, CCTV, etc. All these things the residents listed as a start to help make the town centre a bit more liveable. Very nice.

What a shame about the claim "Taking the council from near bankruptcy to a stable balance". In 2001 the council had a fully balanced budget with wonderful projections for the future, a year later the Tories took control, and have been there since, a whole six years.

If there was any financial "quirk", six years would, to anyone else, be plenty of time to solve it and without getting into trouble with the district auditor. In the meantime, they have cut staff levels to the bone and privatised everything they can, with a consequence of longer waits for anything to be dealt with plus inadequately monitored standards of work as a result of lower numbers of staff/employees. Grounds maintenance is a good example.

Cllr Dean finishes his letter complaining that "some very unpleasant politically motivated propaganda has been coming through your door". Who started it by withholding the information on the town centre for a month so he could win an all-out election? People in glass houses should not throw stones.

Andrew Tinsley, (former Labour leader, Welwyn Hatfield Council).