It’s almost too small to spot, buried deep in the council’s financial pages, but are the gurus at Waverley Towers going to spend £20,000 on a – “Community Engagement Exercise to ask US to determine its future ‘budget priorities because it is running out of money?

Is this the latest cunning plan by our council to make us all believe it actually gives a damn what we think? Is it really asking us, the council taxpayers, how our money should be spent? Presumably, this exercise has been timed to neatly coincide with the parish and borough council elections to be held in May next year? 

Us cynical souls here at the Waverley Web can’t help wondering why a council that has ignored the views of local people for the past four years, has suddenly decided that the views of the voting fodder are suddenly important.

Perhaps, we should tell them to hang on to our money buy some premium bonds with the £20,000? Then we can tell them exactly what we want at the ballot box?

Sorry, this is so small!

But this ‘one-off’ community engagement exercise in 2018/19 – at a cost of £20,000 is to ‘engage with Waverley residents and the wider community to understand budget priorities.’