THE local elections are almost upon us and will probably be greeted with voter apathy as usual.

But this is your chance to make a difference for the sake of Northwich and I would urge everyone to vote.

I am not a member of any political party and have voted for all the main parties over the years, casting my vote for the candidates I think will best serve the people.

I would ask you to consider a few things before marking your X.

The first elections for Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) returned 55 Conservatives, 13 Labour and four Liberal Democrats, giving the Conservatives an overwhelming majority.

How can this be good for political debate and the decision-making process within the borough?

A while ago, the Guardian carried an article on the front page showing pictures of the Northwich CWAC councillors (all Conservative) and asked what had they done for us. I think that question is still as relevant today. There is a feeling in the town that Northwich gets nothing while Chester and Ellesmere Port gets everything.

We have seen promise after promise about regeneration but nothing seems to happen.

The council has had three years to get things moving here but has actually done nothing. They didn’t even fight to keep the magistrates court in the town.

A couple of points to ponder. This is the same, Tory-led council that thought it was a great idea to spend £20 million (of your money) moving into a shiny new headquarters.

And it is only a couple of months ago that the leader of CWAC came to Northwich and said the council may have to look at charging for car parking, although it would appear the Conservative group is trying to re-write history, pretending he didn’t say it.

That’s the kind of thing you can do when you have a majority as big as theirs.

I don’t care who you vote for but please consider exactly what CWAC has done for us over the past three years.

SIMON BARNES