I CONSIDER myself very fortunate in having been born in Poole, and lived within the area all my life.

In the 1950s and 60s, both towns, together with Christchurch, were separated by a combination of fields, woods and heathland, and even with the transfer of Christchurch, Highcliffe and Bournemouth into Dorset, the three towns remained relatively independent of each other, up to and including the early seventies.

Since that time there has been a marked increase of both commercial properties and housing throughout the area, and it now represents a massive conurbation. However, we are still controlled by the three separate councils. How can this cost be justified?

The reason that I am citing cost is that in the Echo on Friday June 14, the council's chief executive, Tony Williams, provided the costs pertinent to members and co-opted members of the Bournemouth Borough Council, and having totalled them up, they come to a staggering £766,999.27.

If this is replicated by the councils of Poole and Christchurch, we are looking at a combined bill in excess of £2million, just for council members. When you then couple this with the incredible salaries commanded by CEOs, treasurers, solicitors etc, the total expenditure for the members and officers has to be circa £3million.

Surely, at a time when each and every one of us is tasked to reappraise our personal expectations and financial circumstances, all three councils have an obligation to take stock of this gross waste of our hard earned money and look to make savings by unification. Big can be beautiful and considerably cheaper!

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED, Bournemouth