Surely if the Councillors are sincere in their recent statements that they are constantly looking at all areas, where unnecessary costs are imposed on ratepayers, that they will all obviously vote in favour of the proposed new Local Election Signs Policy 2011 as it will reduce future costs to ratepayers to nil.
As there is currently no fee whatsoever charged to people wanting to erect election signs, on ratepayer owned property or land, the cost of complying with the current policy is paid for by ratepayers.
The costs that I am referring are areas such as monitoring, cleaning and removing them along with the Council having to respond to ratepayer complaints in regard to poorly or dangerously placed signs and these are all fully met by ratepayers.
With all the other promotional means now available and of course also the ability to still be able to erect signs on private property (with the property owners approval of course) the current policy is, in my view, obsolete and we should therefore go the same way as many other Councils who ban signs being erected on ratepayer owned property.
I look forward to a common sense decision being made by our elected representatives.

Mike Baker, Bethlehem.