This week's Councillor Column is written by Lomond North independent George Freeman.

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PUBLIC participation in the council’s 2017/18 budget consultation has dropped from over 5,000 last year to only 1,700 this year, a drop of 66 per cent.

Councillor Ellen Morton tries to justify this drop by saying that she had appealed to councillors last year not to put everything out to consultation. This ensured that the public were not aware of many of the local service cuts that her administration were due to implement.

How many of the public were aware that the school crossing services at their local schools was to be slashed, that grass cutting was to be reduced to once a year, that the resource for maintaining our street lighting was to be cut to the extent that it now takes months for some of our street lighting to be repaired, and that only happens when private contractors are brought in to carry out the work?

How many knew that the changes to the bin collection service were going to see bins lying for days on pavements unemptied with many residents not knowing when their bins are going to be emptied?

The staff on the ground continue to do their best but the system is just not working.

On this year’s budget Cllr Morton states that the administration has deliberately decided to have a “shorter consultation” with “less operational detail”.

It is the lack of operational detail provided to the public that Cllr Morton supports that ensures that the public do not know which of their services are due to be cut in advance.

Is it any wonder that the public are cynical and are now saying that the council does not pay any attention to the comments they submit during the consultation period?

Elsewhere, the council continues to drag it heals on the proposed Traffic Management proposals at Luss.

Although the Traffic Management Order has been published and is now being consulted on, it appears that there are those in the council who would now prefer to delay taking a decision on this unpopular proposal until after the council elections in May.

I have made it clear to the community on a number of occasions that I will not support any proposal to charge Luss residents for parking permits in their own community. Unfortunately, other local councillors continue to remain silent on this issue.