Dear Sir,
I was peeved by Michael Stead’s letter in the Newton News last week when he said that he had “had to report dozens” of problems in Woodham Ward, including “rotting flytipping, overflowing bins, footpaths breaking up, dumped fridges and freezers”.
This negative campaigning – TOTALLY INACCURATELY – impugns Woodham in the newspapers as an unpleasant, dirty place to live. In fact Woodham Ward consistently figures as one of the top-six safest and most crime-free wards in County Durham. It has the lowest anti-social behaviour in the town. It is smart, green, and the Town and County Councils look after it well. It is a lovely place to live.
I do a walkabout or a drive-around every couple of weeks or so, to find and report any nuisances. I also have a network of residents across the ward who keep me informed of issues; Mr Stead is not just disparaging me, he is making them look careless and lazy.
So I hope that, if he is to get involved in local politics, Mr Stead will quickly learn that one of the roles of a Councillor is to celebrate and ‘sell’ their ward. I do hope he is not going to be one of those candidates who depict their ward as run-down and neglected, in order to pretend they are achieving something.
John D Clare.
