Dear Sir,

Sorting out problems is second nature to me.

When you deal with accounts for people on a daily basis you learn a lot about a lot of different businesses. You realise how hard people work, including the self employed, and you understand how quickly people can shift from being OK paying the mortgage to struggling.

This past year has surprised everyone and many are still suffering. Having Councillors who recognise and understand this is essential. The community spirit, the help from our neighbours and the recognition that we need to work together, has shown the true value of people in our town. Yes, there is so much to sort out, jobs, regeneration and more. Like all the pot holes in our roads and uneven pavements.

But there’s also a solution to this and so many other problems. It’s common sense. Not wasting money on silly repairs. It’s value for money. Not paying out more than we need to fix things. It’s only doing what matters, not coming up with hair-brained schemes. It’s fixing what’s broken and doing it with respect for taxpayers money.

Please support me and my Lib Dem colleagues. We need a strong team to make sure the money we all pay to the town and county council is spent wisely and we need clued up people to take on the unfair tax issue Labour and the Conservatives are unwilling or incapable of fixing.

I look forward to finding savings, so we can protect services, tackling waste, so we can save you money. Please back all three of us in Aycliffe North and Middridge, Michael Stead, Maureen Shelton and I.

Andrea Miller