I APPLAUD Councillor Marcus Hart for admitting that the Tories are not going to reintroduce weekly wheelie bin collections. (Letters, September 30)

However, I cannot help feeling he has been set up as the "fall guy" in this issue. To merely announce such a major "u-turn" in the Tories' main election promise in a letter to the Shuttle/Times and News seems to be totally dismissive of the residents of Wyre Forest and arrogant and patronising in the extreme.

Surely a formal announcement by district council Leader, Councillor Stephen Clee, would have been more appropriate and would have shown more respect for residents?

As the administration that introduced the highly successful scheme of recycling, we knew and understood the need to reduce waste at a cost the community could afford. The only realistic option to start to meet Government imposed targets was the one adopted.

As Marcus quite rightly points out, the weekly option would cost an extra £1million a year. We already knew that and we consulted with every household in the district prior to making a final decision on the scheme introduced. The Tories conveniently "forgot" this when campaigning for the election.

In real terms, £1 of Council Tax raises £33,000 - £1m would have required a Council Tax increase of £30 per household per annum, adding over 20 per cent to the district council element of the total charge.

This would have been unacceptable to the community and would have been blocked by the Government - in the same way that the fire service charge was capped. It was never achievable and Health Concern understood that. Clearly the Tories did not.

The Tories' election cry was "Conservative Keep Their Promises". Their major promise, and the one that got them many votes, was to restore weekly collections. It comes as no surprise then, that at the first hurdle, they have failed abysmally to keep their promise. Realistically, it was never an option.

How do residents feel about being so blatantly misled, I wonder?

It does not bode well for the future of Wyre Forest under this Tory-run council. One wonders, in their desire to put their political ambitions ahead of anything else, how many other populist, but unachievable, election promises they will fail to keep over the coming months?

HOWARD MARTIN

Former Leader of Wyre Forest District Council and Health Concern,

Neville Avenue

Kidderminster