THERE is much predictable hand-wringing from councillors and similar notables re the need for a 12% hike in council tax– unprecedented pressures and the rest.

Last week I drove through Marloes, to find a team erecting signs to reduce the speedlimit from 30 to 20.This will no doubt have been preceded by consultation, site visits, meetings and now implementation.

So my mind wandered along the lines – if the council is under such unprecedented pressure, is it really necessary at this time to undertake a project to reduce the speed-limit in Marloes? If this is the quality of decision-making in the council, how many other similarly ill-conceived projects are being undertaken every day, in their unending quest to save every penny?

Or is the real motivation to maintain the status-quo at all costs, and as far as possible perpetuate for ever traditional habits, however meaningless? How many senior managers have any comparable experience in the private sector? Or is it possible that our council does not have a clue how to save real money?

DAVID LEMON

Neyland