I FOR one use my local footpath network and judging by the number of muddy footprints in the near impassable seas of mud, so do many others. However the footpath budget is being slashed by over £200,000, with the loss of three posts in the need to economise. Also Cornwall county council feels it does not require the repayment of over £1 million (plus interest) owed by the Eden Project.

If it is so flush with money it does not need the repayment of loans, then why the need to slash money from other front line services? The simple answer probably lies in the desire by a few for a feel-good factor newspaper. Carrick district council already has a "look what we have achieved" type newspaper so perhaps Cornwall county council needs the cash for their version of a "we are wonderful" newspaper as well. A mere £106,000 to be spent on top salaries per annum, plus underlings' wages and, of course, production costs, will probably double the above sum. All this money needs to come from somewhere, ie footpaths budget for a start, and ratepayers will be coughing up yet more in our next rates bill for something else not wanted.

Personally I would rather be outside enjoying Cornwall than inside reading drivel sent by the county council and anyway, I for one already know Cornwall county council is not wonderful, and I do not need a newspaper trying to say otherwise. I may have voted Lib-Dem at the last elections, but please do not take me for an idiot!

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