To the Editor,
At its simplest, taxation takes money out of the local commercial economy — where it would otherwise be spent, invested, or used to create jobs — and places it under administrative control. This is clearly justified when it funds essential public services that benefit everyone.
However, it becomes far more questionable when council spending appears driven less by genuine public need and more by the need to keep an overstaffed institution busy. In those cases, projects risk serving the organisation itself rather than delivering real, proportionate value to residents.
With household budgets already under pressure, it’s reasonable for the public to ask whether council resources are being used to meet clear priorities — or simply to sustain internal structures that have grown beyond what the community actually requires.
A further concern is using such public money to effectively subsidise businesses, for example in the Quayside sheds.
While businesses which are privately-funded have to find rent, business rates, staffing and utilities costs out of money generated, those given a hand, from the public purse are given an unfair advantage and will find themselves in trouble if the public funding stops.
This all raises the larger question of whether it is a fair and correct use of tax-payer funds at all as well as creating an uneven playing-field.
Yours sincerely,
Name and address supplied