Sir, – Northallerton Town Council has failed to respond to several letters published in your columns about the proposal to create a town square in Northallerton High Street. I have been told by the clerk that the council has “no intention of responding to letters that have not been written directly to the council”. The implication is that a letter sent direct to the council would receive a response.

My letters about this proposed folly have been acknowledged but not a single one of the questions I asked or the points I made has been properly addressed.

It seems the council has no intention of responding to letters written directly to the council either.

I was told I should have attended the “consultation exercise”.

I am not in the habit of wasting my time taking part in so-called “consultation” when the subject of the consultation is going to happen anyway. The trust status of the Friarage Hospital and parking charges are two recent flagrant examples of such useless consultation.

However, although my questions were ignored I was sent a copy of the report on the consultation.

As pointed out in your report (D&S, Jan 22), we are not told how many took part.

I am sure that if sufficient people had taken part for the consultation to be meaningful then we would have been told.

That the council is hiding behind percentages surely indicates too few attended and the results of the consultation are therefore valueless.

We are told the consultation was “robust”. If so, then why are we not allowed to judge for ourselves just how robust it was?

The council should announce forthwith how many participated.

Even though the project has not yet been finally approved, street furniture has already been purchased. Indeed it seems the furniture was bought before the consultation took place – a clear indication of the council’s intentions whatever the outcome of the consultation.

The report gives no indication of the total cost of the proposed project. It says £70,000 has already been secured, but it also says “additional funding”

will be required without indicating even roughly how much.

The report makes no mention of any member of the public commenting on the cost of the proposals. This is perhaps not surprising because it seems the council itself has no idea or, if it has, it is not prepared to say. The council should come clean about that too.

D F SEVERS Trinity Gardens, Northallerton.