In recent years I have witnessed some of the most scandalous wastes of money imaginable at Downland Court in Portslade.

Earlier this summer I saw contractors ripping up perfectly sound pathways and steps, replacing them with new.

Meanwhile, the pavement in Stonery Road is uneven, broken and seriously pooling water when it rains. The council continually says it has no money to spend on repairs.

A ball play area built not many years ago for children at Downland Court has been ripped out this year to be replaced with another.

Last year The Argus reported £37,000 was allocated to be spent on this ball area and another play area.

Less than five minutes' walk from these play areas are acres of downland and a huge playing field.

New powerful security lights were erected on the flats opposite our homes in Stonery Road when the originals were perfectly adequate.

A court ordered the new ones to be removed and thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money was wasted on court costs.

The new lights had to be replaced with something similar to the old. Residents of Stonery Road/Drove Crescent have no lighting whatsoever in their service road and have been asking the council for years to install security lights.

The council continually says it cannot afford to.

Grassed areas at the front of Downland Court facing Stonery Road were ripped out and replaced with shrubberies which now resemble an overgrown jungle with bald patches.

My wife and I have turned 80 and for the past 60 years have been paying rent to the council.

Money has been wasted at Downland Court but my aging, impoverished neighbours recently asked the council to replace their broken gate. The council told them they would have to buy one themselves and fit it.

This is not justice.

-Denis Goatcher, Portslade