I was astounded to read that Portishead Town Council is considering extending the lease on the Clevedon Road playing fields for 25 years for a peppercorn rent of £5 per week. Five pounds? Are our councillors still living in the 1960s? £5 will just about

I was astounded to read that Portishead Town Council is considering extending the lease on the Clevedon Road playing fields for 25 years for a peppercorn rent of £5 per week.Five pounds? Are our councillors still living in the 1960s? £5 will just about buy you four cups of coffee in the Waitrose cafe but you will need £6 to buy an off-peak return bus ticket to Bristol on First Bus. £5 will not pay your weekly bill for a national newspaper neither will it buy a child school dinners for one week. In Bristol, it costs £25 to £30 per hour to hire a five-a-side football pitch. The going rate for any sport, fitness or dance lesson in Portishead is about £5 per session per person - the same amount of money that Portishead AFC is paying for a whole week.Please don't resign Cllr Rigby - those of us who live in the real world think that a rent of £1,000 per annum and a short term lease was a modest and prudent suggestion. Janice PlowsWetlands Lane, Portishead