I WAS very disappointed to read Jennifer O’Neill’s letter in your paper last week. Across the county we continue to get positive feedback about the work that our contractor has carried out this year, and we have had significantly fewer grass cutting complaints.
This particular issue was first raised in June and my colleague Graham Payne made sure the work was done.
Also, the comment about £10 million mismanagement is just not correct. This represents only one per cent of our total budget and we were forecasting a potential overspend last year – but we took measures to correct it. 
As a result of what we are doing, this has been reduced significantly. We will of course continue to take action to allow us to deliver a balanced budget which we do each year. 
This is perfectly normal management and is happening in local authorities across the country.
We will continue to work hard to ensure we give people in Wiltshire the best possible services with a continually restricting budget.
Philip Whitehead
Cabinet Member for Highways 
and Transport