Wouldn't it be lovely if, when standing for office, councillors had to undergo some kind of brain scan to prove that inside thick skulls lurks a modicum of common sense?

It might prevent some from reaching diabolical decisions. One I have in mind is the communal street bins introduced by Brighton and Hove City Council.

The council, in its warped wisdom, decided the bins could be a rubbish-clearing salvation. Before their installation, it was announced that "authorised users" might be provided with keys or special swipe cards to prevent illegal use of the bins and a senior councillor even suggested they could be painted to blend in with the environment, thus making them "visually attractive".

Beam them up, Scottie. Which planet do these ivory tower dwellers come from? Haven't they missed their true vocation? Shouldn't they be writing wacky scripts for zany TV comedy shows?

Their plans made it seem inevitable that these eyesores would quickly be filled to overflowing with black bags being dumped all around them, creating mini garbage tips all over the place.

I didn't require a crystal ball to predict this. A smidgen of common sense was sufficient. Now the bins are with us and, surprise, surprise, the obvious problems have started to arise. The Argus has done a public service by pointing these out.

Meanwhile, a town hall spokeswoman has defended the big bins blunders, telling us: "As far as we're concerned, there isn't a problem. It really is no cause for concern."

Welcome to cloud cuckoo land. Sounds to me like the captain of the Titanic saying, "don't worry, we have just stopped to take on ice".

Trying to make the most of this, if the council ever needs a highly paid consultant to pour cold water over daft ideas, I'm their man - but I mention this with some trepidation since I fear I might be greatly overworked.

-Fred Boulden, Brighton