WHERE I live is a small side street off the main road. Street lighting is perfectly adequate and has been so for many years.

However, City of York Council has just erected a new street light column adjacent to an existing one and which now has to have both light and power attached.

No consultation has taken place with the residents affected and I would also mention that the main road is heavily cracked and potholed.

I mention this only because of the recent comments by Coun James Alexander, widely reported in The Press, claiming that City of York Council must raise council tax by 1.9 per cent in April because it needs the money to keep its essential services operating.

Can he explain why replacing perfectly adequate assets with new ones is deemed “essential”? Is it to highlight the poor main road surfaces, which the money spent on this project could have improved?

Neil Raw, Oriel Grove, Clifton Without, York.