I wonder if other residents of Marlborough felt as acutely depressed as I did by Michael Gray's letter (Gazette & Herald, 1 January) concerning the behaviour of our elected members of the town council.

It is outrageous that time is being spent in council in this way when surely there is work to be done on behalf of the community. But perhaps this behaviour reflects a certain powerlessness.

I wonder if it would concentrate the minds of the members of the town council if they could look strategically ahead and ask themselves the following questions:-

"What are some of the problems facing the community?"

"How might we, within our restricted powers, deal with those problems?"

"Where would we like our community to be in three years' time?"

"How are we as a council going to contribute to that vision?" and, most importantly, "How are we going to measure the impact of our work as a council?".

They might even start by answering the question, now that we have come to the end of 2003, "What difference have we made to the lives of the residents of Marlborough in 2003?"

I would love to know and maybe others would also.

N Maurice

London Road

Marlborough