ONE of the most vital duties of any form of government is to keep people informed about what those in power are doing.

From the parish newsletter to Press releases from Downing Street, the principle is the same - information should be readily available and free for all to see and use.

Of course, all local authorities must uphold these ideals - without exception.

It would seem, however, that some bright spark at Wychavon District Council has come up with the notion of alerting residents to planning applications in their neighbourhoods by e-mail and text message.

And by no other means.

Now, we are all for the march of progress. Technical innovations such as text messages, the internet and e-mails are incredibly useful tools and have revolutionised global communications.

By all means, use them to inform people about planning bids - or any other issue, for that matter.

But don't exclude the countless thousands that don't use these devices, but rely on good old-fashioned paper.

Can you imagine how difficult it would be to absorb the sort of detail included in a planning application via a text message?

Thankfully, at the moment, this is just a proposal. The authority has asked the public to let it know their views.

We'll certainly let it know ours - this is a ridiculous idea and should be dropped immediately.