THE anonymous correspondence pleads for the letters page to be left to the ordinary man in the street.

I am the ordinary man in the street, but also being an elected representative of my constituents requires me to communicate with them by any and all means available to me.

Nobody should underestimate the importance of the Bolton News’ contribution to the democratic process in the town. This has been more than adequately demonstrated over the last couple of years.

If there is a lack of transparency and accountability within the Town hall and questions in full council receive unsatisfactory or even no answers, this must be drawn to the attention of the public and, together with social media, articles and letters in the press achieve that.

It may well be that the streaming of council and other meetings on the internet will increase the public’s appreciation of what goes on within the hallowed precincts of the Town hall – a fact which I don’t think the Labour group has fully understood — but I maintain that a campaigning and investigative press together with letters from elected members is still essential for informing the public’s voting choices at the next elections.

Councillor Paul Richardson

Ripon Close

Little Lever