CAN someone please remind me why, as council taxpayers, we continue to support the town council?

No, really, what do they do?

I opened the pages of this newspaper last week in eager anticipation of the front page banner, ‘Plans to Mark World War One’, only to find those plans involve poppy planting, a national initiative, not their idea (www.realpoppy.co.uk); a few hundred pounds worth of banners to be hung from lamps, if they can get planning permission; and a football match, which may happen at Christmas, but there is no idea of who it might involve or where it might take place (allow me at this point to make a suggestion that this should probably involve a locally-based regiment of the Army and an invitational team from our twinned town of Goch in Germany – not that hard, is it?).

Whilst the rest of the country seems to have already come up with a fantastic array of interesting and moving events to commemorate the centenary of the war – and not just its start, but for the next four years, the town council has proposed what I can only describe as extremely underwhelming plans to mark the anniversary.

I don’t know if this results from a lack of knowledge or imagination on their part, but whichever, if that is the best the town council can manage when they put their heads together, then they do not appear to be giving the taxpayer very good value for money.

A child with access to an internet search-engine for five minutes could have come up with better ideas for commemorative events for the town!

And don’t even get me started on the lack of planned events for the centenary coming out of Beech Hurst!

Mark Brown, The Avenue, Andover