In response to the reports about fears the way Town Hall's planning meetings could be open to fraud and corruption, reported in the Guardian Midweek January 15.

I am under the impression that the public's safeguard against corruption is the involvement of elected representatives in the planning process, and that they are a check on the officers the council employ, on our behalf.They should be reminded that they represent the communities they serve, not well known developers. It is impossible for the general public, most of whom are not trained in investigative techniques, to root out corruption. The only way they can know it goes on is to look at some of the 'developers' dreams' that have been allowed over the years to blight Warrington. When the developments turn out to be different from the application, the enforcement procedure is a developers' joke. Perhaps then they will approve applications that will benefit the community and not land grabbing men in suits who corrupt the areas they develop for the simple reason they are in it for the money, and the attitude is infectious.

Jim Pearson

East Avenue,

Stockton Heath