THE ‘Referendum on elected mayor’ article in the Warrington Guardian (February 1) has assertions, comments and assumptions that deserve to be challenged.

First ‘anger across the borough’.

Yes, some from the nimbies, selfishly complaining about the Preferred Development Option seem to be mostly middle age or elderly and probably well housed, as evidenced by recent pictures of people attending protest meetings.

And, before you ask, I am a countryside lover and naturalist with strong views on biodiversity and habitat conservation also comfortably housed and 81 years old.

Many of us could repeat the mantra ‘when I was a kid it was all fields round here,we used to play football over there’.

So it was but houses and places of work were built to cope with the shortage of homes and jobs.

Some good, some not so good.

I hope that future generations will have the opportunity to live in decent homes regardless of their social and financial status.

I recognise that this may result in the loss of what I would describe as marginal green belt with relatively low environmental value.

On the basis of environmental cost set against social benefit, I think that the price is worth paying.

The assertion that the executive board ‘is completely one-sided and not good for democracy’ confounds my understanding of democracy.

All the members were elected by the majority of the registered voters who voted in the last elections.

The resultant dominant number of Labour councillors is reflected in the composition of the EB.

Democracy in action.

The implicit assumption that a referendum is a more democratic instrument than the established system of local government elections can be challenged by citing the mess that I think we are in as a consequence of the EU referendum.

Just remember that even though we have some elected mayors we voters do not elect the prime minister and the cabinet.

However I do concede that elected mayors for Greater London, Manchester act as unifying force representing the best interests of all their constituent separate councils, both nationally and internationally.

Finally, if there was an election for a mayor of our relatively small Warrington borough all indications based on recent parliamentary and borough council elections suggest that we would have a Labour mayor.

Additionally an elected mayor would give us an unnecessary expensive extra layer of local government in an already underfunded local authority.

JIM KNOWLES Stockton Heath