Essential to have weekly newspaper

Dear Sir,

In response to your Open Debate article in last week's Chronicle, local newspapers are perhaps one of those things that we take for granted until they disappear.

I admit I would not be as interested in the issues surrounding Congleton if there was not a credible, well written and topical local newspaper with its dedicated staff.

It is not easy to discover what local issues are and without an informed commentary, it is tempting to use your own interests to guide political campaigning.

To truly act as a servant of the local people, it is essential to have an up to date ie weekly paper to keep abreast of local developments in what can be rapidly changing circumstances.

To know that a Chronicle reporter has rung someone for a comment on an issue and read their response or not, helps enormously in local campaigning.

This helps the community to have a more measured view of local politics and so use their vote more wisely at our rather infrequent elections.

Yours faithfully,

(DR) PETER HIRST