Dear Editor

I was alarmed, but not surprised by your report last week of the annual Ross-on-Wye Town Council meeting, especially the phrase that “Ross had not met the Herefordshire Council criteria to qualify for a £23,000 grant”

Such a statement is vague, confusing and fails to explain why we are not allowed to receive this money. Most residents have just been served their Annual Notices of Herefordshire Council Tax for 2016\17, complete with a +2.5% increase in most cases. basic questions then arise: When was the grant introduced by Herefordshire Council? What is its official title and purpose? how many towns already receive the grant, and why? What rights does Ross actually have?

We now pay council taxes just for a weekly refuse collection, yet we have to struggle to use the Waste Recycling Centre to dispose of any additional items.

Police are virtually non-existent in the town these days, and their customer services desk is closed.

We have no children at local schools, so the questions can certainly be raised: just what are we paying out so much for? and why are we receiving so little back in return?

Mrs J M Bailey

Ross-on-Wye