THE article by Roderick Bluh entitled Councils Need Real Powers, is one of great concern and we need to study the history of local government to see how this has evolved and how these powers can be restored.

Local decision making is at risk and we need to study the history of local government to see how it can be restored.

There was strong local government in Anglo Saxon times that was destroyed by the Norman occupation.

Most of the economy was based on agriculture and local decisions were made by the squire.

With the rise of the industrial revolution there was little local democracy as the power was in the hands of the factory owners.

The 1945 Labour Government set up the Town and Planning Act.

They also set up areas in the countryside for national parks. Their main failure was their nationalisation policy .

It had the objective of the people managing the large public bodies but the result was poor management from civil servants.

Local government also had financial independence from government because they could levy a business rate.

This was abolished by the Thatcher Government because of the harm being done by the loony left with very high business rates.

Now Government can influence councils by manipulating grants given to local authorities.

When the Labour Government was elected they devolved powers to Scotland and Wales and later Northern Ireland.

The opposite seems to be happening in England. The Lord Rogers Report on the urban renaissance recommended limited development in the south and major developments in the north to assist in renewing the old industrial towns.

But major developments are planned in Swindon, Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Ashford in Kent.

The most worrying is plans to build 3.5 million houses with no mention of low cost housing.

This will be an economic and environmental disaster with loss of the countryside and gridlock on the roads and the collapse of health and social services.

Local authorities had some influence on the Regional Development Associations but these were often dominated by developers with no concern about local conditions.

Things are getting worse as the Government has a body of so called experts to make decisions without consulting councils.

The only concession is these top down decisions will have to be approved by Parliament and they are likely to toe the party line.

This is dangerous, as decisions will be made without local conditions or control of local government.

How to stop this mad policy that will lead to disaster?

One way is for all local authorities to protest in one voice against these unsustainable plans as well as an attempt to influence members of Parliament. As well as protest from the people.

The other are the plans by the Council For The Protection Of Rural England who are objecting to this top down culture by setting up a group of organisations to stop building on greenfield sites.

This includes Friends Of The Earth, Green, Civic Trust, the New Economic Foundation, Wildlife and Woodland Trusts and the Ramblers Association who will object to any building on greenfield sites and the National Farmers’ Union who will object to building on farm land.

BRIAN BURROWS Fairlawn Swindon