Last updated 10:22, Friday, 04 July 2008

Bryan Gray, chairman of the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is so correct in the criticism he makes in his article that leadership in Cumbria has been in a mess (The Cumberland News, June 20).

The facts are that although Government funding was generous to the county following the foot and mouth catastrophe of 2001, this also imposed a hatch of agencies and quangos, each one top-heavy with bureaucracy and administration costs.

In many cases, executives were brought into the county with little knowledge of local affairs. This has led to frustration as any attempt to lead or recommend was immediately embroiled in endless form-filling, conference attendance and a complete lack of decision-making, something which local business people had no time for in their busy lives.

Bryan Gray refers to Cumbria Vision which surely is part of his NWDA, a perfect example of top-heavy bureaucracy achieving little. May I suggest he could start investigating there?

The Penrith to Keswick railway is certainly “pie in the sky”, let’s attend to the really important projects first and establish leadership capable of making positive and well-constructed decisions, for the benefit of the long-term future of Cumbria.

JOE HARRIS
Brackenburgh

• I regret that I am forced to write to you regarding the article in The Cumberland News, June 20, which conveys an incorrect report of the conference in Kendal about climate change.

When Bryan Gray referred to the plethora of agencies delivering economic regeneration, he named some of the strategic bodies but did not include Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency (CREA) as the article states.

His referrals to CREA were positive and twofold; the first when he was talking about support to help businesses reduce their impact on climate change, which we deliver in Cumbria; the second, in a similar vein, was in answer to a question at the conclusion of the event.

Unfortunately, the article does not correctly draw this difference.

RL CLARK
Executive director
Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency