Onceagain, Brighton and Hove City Council is pursuing policies for glory and prestige while letting essential services deteriorate. No sooner do we have city status (which has made no difference to most people) than we are

bidding to be the European Capital of Culture.

The last thing we need is further influxes of visitors in the summer - we cannot cope with existing levels. The reason we cannot cope is that

our councillors have failed to tackle the problems of access, congestion and parking.

The bid is very unlikely to succeed. Brighton and Hove

is simply not comparable to Barcelona, Glasgow, Antwerp or Weimar. Even if the bid did succeed, its main effect, like city status itself, would most likely be to push house prices up even further.

Sometimes I feel sorry for our councillors because they have too little power to give the people what they want. But it would be better if they tried to get the basics right. Clean, well-lit streets, an efficient refuse collection and personal social services should be their priorities. Instead, it seems easier and more fun for them to chase rainbows of no relevance or value to most of their constituents.

-James Simister, Bates Road, Brighton