I ATTENDED the Cheshire West and Chester Council Executive meeting recently and to be honest, I was astounded by the lack of courteousness meted out by the council to those who asked rather basic questions.

Firstly, three members of the public gave notice that they wished to speak.

The first was told he couldn’t ask a question but was then given five minutes to speak and was then told to stop.

Another person raised a very important issue relating to the council’s code of conduct but was told to stop speaking and finally another person was told to leave the building when he raised a related question to the second matter.

Then, to make matter even worse, three councillors (the shadow executive I believe) asked questions of substance relating to how decisions had been arrived at and council spent some time criticising those questioners for asking questions but didn’t answer them when they should have known the answers.

Contrast this with another person (a Conservative councillor) who asked an equally complex question but on this occasion, the council spent time, without criticising him for asking a question, giving him a detailed and almost complete answer.

It appears to me that a valid question is always valid when it is asked to examine and clarify the decisions on how the council is spending our money and the credibility of those making the decisions.

Members of the council are in place to act on our behalf not theirs. They are spending our money on projects or their allowances and shouldn’t be allowed to treat the public and others who question their decisions with contempt.

So to answer my question, it appears a question is only valid when the council wants to answer it.

However, if they do not want to answer the question, they do no more than complain about the questioner or eject the questioner from the building.

Is this acceptable? I think not. This is a very clear abuse of power and should not be allowed to continue.

Mr LW DAY