Regret over Reg's resignation
It is a matter of regret that Reg Rice has resigned as a Landulph Parish Councillor. That regret must not only be because his years of valuable public service experience will be missed, but because of the background to his resignation.
He had the temerity to suggest the Council move its recording and financial administrative practices from the 19th into the 21st century - and that even before the Millennium. For this, the man and his proposal were treated with contempt and ignored. The Council may take no credit for its conduct.
If Mr Rice was at fault, then it was that he had not prepared a well- researched argument for his proposal. Change for change's sake is never acceptable. Equally unacceptable is resistance to change when it is born out of dogma and perhaps fear.
The Council's lack of pro-activity is worrying. How much better it would have been had they commissioned, from amongst themselves, a simple study of the relative pros and cons of the old and the new. Such a study would not only identify best practice for the councillors themselves but would serve well the concept of open government and therefore best serve the interests of the public whom the council stands to represent.
COLIN JAMES
Nr Saltash