WHAT a dreadful waste of money by Southampton City Council spending £12,000 on totem poles in our parks. It is interesting to note that parks boss Peter Baillie said the posts had been paid for by contributions from developers.

Can we presume that this money was given under the Section 106 agreement whereby ‘money was paid by developers to Local Planning Authorities in order to offset the costs of the effects of the development’.

Southampton, given the vast scale of development over the last ten years, must have raked in hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pounds, under this agreement.

Earlier this year £25,000 was spent on the Rollerbrook Valley in Polygon area, money that was given to Southampton City Council in 2001 under this Section 1 agreement, by Linden Homes when they developed the Nazareth House site on Hill Lane. Yes, ten years ago.

This poses the question as to how much money is still sat in the council coffers many years after it was received from developers.

Also, one wonders, is it accruing interest? In these austere times can a better use not be found for it?

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