I WAS interested to read Mr Titcombe's letter (EA May 22) regarding his criticism of the forming of a link between Swindon and the city of Torun in Poland.

I am very happy to allay his worries regarding "costing the rate payers thousands of pounds" and his query as to what is to be gained from such arrangements.

The three-day visit to Poland only cost the air fares. The welcome we received in Torun was both amazing and generous.

The signing of the co-operation and friendship agreement allows future arrangements between the two authorities to be eligible for grants from the EU.

The level of co-operation will cover such diverse areas as business, culture, education, environment, community, sport and tourism. It is not a system for councillors to have overseas jollies.

The first business arrangement between a Swindon and a Torun company was signed at the same time as our agreement.

Poland is a wonderful opportunity for local businesses and similarly Swindon for Torun companies. We aim to fully engage both respective Chambers of Commerce to the business opportunities that now present themselves.

Torun is very much a historic university city with a student population of 35,000 and the world renowned Nicolaus Copernicus university. The possibilities of co-operation with Bath University in Swindon and our Higher Education colleges is an exciting prospect.

At school level there are obvious cultural gains and the first school arrangement has just been created. In terms of arts and culture we are hoping to have a group of drama students from Torun do a performance in July amid a visit to England. There is no cost to the Council of this and the students will stay with Swindon families during their visit. I will ensure Mr Titcombe has a ticket!

There is also the possibility of an EU funded visit by a Swindon school to Torun with the idea of teaching cricket this could be a worry for England cricket sides!

Both Torun and Swindon have excellent musical groups and exchanges at this level will undoubtedly bring benefits to those involved and audiences. The Eurovision Song Contest fight back starts here!

At all levels of our community one can learn a great from seeing how things are done in other places. The friendship and co-operation agreement with Torun presents a marvellous opportunity to make this happen.

I am very proud of Swindon and see this as a way to promote our town. Having visited Torun I could not imagine a better place to create a link. We can only gain from the relationship we have started.

Stan Pajak

Liberal Democrat Councillor

Swindon