madam, Having read the item 'New planning search facility launched' in last week's Ross Gazette, I felt that some balance needed to be put in place regarding this new wonder service.

The new service enables Herefordshire Council to make considerable financial savings in the Planning service it provides, unfortunately it does not help the vast majority of ordinary members of the public get effective access to planning information.

If you do not own a computer or are not particularly computer literate, you will have to visit the local info centre to get access to any planning information. If you do visit the info centre to gain access to the system they can only offer a very limited service with regard to planning information, they may have time to get the details you require on their terminal, but they do not have any significant ability to print off hard copies of plans for you to take away and review.

They may suggest that you use the Library facilities, but these are very limited in both time and capability. The net result of this new service is that the Council saves money and provides a very good service for a very limited number of people, what can they do for the ordinary members of the public who are affected by proposed planning applications?

Patrick Hughes, Wilton