YET again we find an important decision about expenditure regarding new offices for Herefordshire Council announced in the press as a fait accompli.

I find it increasingly difficult to represent the people that voted me in when decisions involving huge expenditure are announced in the press before those of us representing the public are informed.

I wonder whether the public is aware that the cabinet system allows for vital decisions to be made which affect the whole of the city with no local councillors being consulted or included as part of the decision- making process.

The council accommodation issue has clearly been in the pipeline for months but no information has ever been circulated to councillors representing the city regarding the plans to spend £17½million on a new headquarters for the council.

I agree with the opinion of the Hereford Times that the discussion must remain fully in the public domain. I have on more than one occasion asked about whether or not Plough Lane was to be the preferred venue as the future council headquarters but the leader of the council, Coun Philips, has steadfastly refused to give a simple yes or no answer.

The Hereford Times reports that there were options for alternative locations; clearly these options should have been brought to full council for open debate.

If open debate had taken place, I would have, along with other councillors, had the opportunity to compare the respective merits of the alternative proposal coming fromthe ESG consultation, that three public services, namely the NHS, the police and the council should be on one site on council-owned land at the cattle market.

Each of these organisations has assets which could be realised to provide funding for this sensible option. Is this plan now abandoned?

As the opinion piece in last week’s Hereford Times said, the discussion must remain fully transparent and in the public domain. I have campaigned for transparency and accountability and earned a reputation as a maverick and a nuisance to the administration, but if that is what it takes to carry out my public duty, so be it!

COUN MARCELLE LLOYD-HAYES, Tupsley Ward, Hereford.