LETTER: £127,000 subsidy per track user

It is my understanding that the track is only used around 40 times per week. If we assume a number of users actually use the track more than once a week, the average could be four times per week per user. This would mean approximately ten users actually use this £1.27million track.

If this is the case, HDC Cabinet member, Jonathan Chowen, wants the Horsham council tax payer to subsidise the track runners at a cost of £127,000, per runner, not taking into consideration the cost of operating and maintaining this expensive facility.

Even if there are, approximately, 40 different runners using the track only once per week each, Mr Chowen still expects the Horsham council tax payer to subsidise each runner by a minimum of £31,750.

I and, I believe, every Horsham council tax payer would like Mr Chowen to clarify his business case for this proposal and why the hard-pressed Horsham tax payer should subsidise a few runners who may, or may not, reside in the District.

I am more impressed that Horsham District Council has more than one and a quarter million pounds it can invest.

Surely there are better alternatives, everything from returning money to our hard-pressed tax payers to investing in something that would be used more, provide a long term revenue stream, for example a new car park, and which would benefit Horsham council and business rate tax payers by reducing the requirement to increase their donations to HDC.

PETER GRACE

Chanctonbury, Ashington