Sir – Having been a Malvern Hills District Councillor and deciding not to stand for re-election I have a number of matters to comment on. It is interesting to note that the district council has been entering into a number of shared service agreements with other local authorities, in particular Worcester City, Wychavon, and Worcestershire County Council.

While I agree with the motives, these agreements now cover approximately half of the services and it is expected further services will be shared in the future.

This exercise leads me to consider that the logical conclusion is, perhaps, an amalgamation, possibly to be called South Worces-tershire District Council.The proposed South Worcestershire Development plan is in course of preparation between the three South Worcestershire District Councils as a co-ordinated approach to formulate proposals for development up to the year 2030.

The areas under consideration, known as the Worcester Urban Fringe, will be to the South or West of Worcester or both, within Malvern Hills District Council boundaries.

I await with interest the public consultation that will be taking place in the not too distant future in respect of the above.

MICHAEL BIDDLE
Retiring district councillor, Kempsey