I FEEL I must respond to John Hinton's letter (Evening News, Monday, January 10).

First, the "factions" and "unelected pressure groups" to which he refers are parents (and taxpayers in St John's) who like me care about their community and have children currently attending this school or who will be in the near future.

They had grave concerns about the move and decided to do something about this outrageous proposal. Their objections were based on solid sensible arguments put forward by people who will be directly affected by the relocation of the school. Obviously the government inspector agreed.

These same parties are acting in the best interests of the pupils, their children. The politicians and faceless council officers who made the decision at county hall to move the school would be unaffected by the move and could not care less about the St John's Community.

This attitude was clearly displayed by the property officers from county hall who attended the first meeting at the school when the subject was first raised. Mr Hinton is another who would not be affected by relocation of the school.

In addition to the above, why is it that the county council did not maintain the school properly as is their duty, having due regard to several regulations, not least the Health & Safety at Work Act.

Why was it left to go to rack and ruin? I would suggest that they were negligent by not doing so. Perhaps there was a hidden agenda.

The city council should grasp the nettle and issue a compulsory purchase order on the county council for the strip of land where the old council depot was - as is their prerogative.

BILL DAVISON,

Worboys Road,

St John's.