I TOO attended the exhibition of Henry Boot's proposal for the development of the Tropicana site. Most of the design was undynamic architecture which will look

I TOO attended the exhibition of Henry Boot's proposal for the development of the Tropicana site. Most of the design was undynamic architecture which will look as outdated in five years as Dolphin Square does now and the layout reflected the failed Mace project. However the council had accepted Mace's planning application so Boot already had a working plan before they were handed the site at a peppercorn rent. The underground car park is a legacy of the Mace proposal; it was argued at the time that the subterranean tide surge would make an underground car park an expensive engineering miracle.What I found interesting was that in an area where the average age is in the late 50s, which is reflected in the average age of our councillors, and where the grey pound has some economic clout, there is absolutely nothing in the Boot project for the elderly, unless you include gran and granddad sipping a cuppa watching their grandchildren enjoying themselves in the pool at £7 a pop and then round the corner to Pizza Hut (probably) for another seven quid a pop.This means the aspirations of the public which happens to be elderly have come to nothing. Millions of words in local papers, hundreds of meetings, and for one brave soul a road journey to Downing Street by electric wheelchair have been totally ignored favouring instead a proposal that is the direct opposite of their wishes. The councillors appear to have washed their hands of any responsibility to the electorate, nothing new for North Somerset! The Tropicana is an example that demonstrates the political weakness that has become the standard for North Somerset. The executive bends over incentives to manufacturing or logistic companies that wish to relocate here. It doesn't mean there is dodgy financial goings on in the Town Hall: it means the political forum of the area has been corrupted. Usually this means poor bureaucracy, poor education and poor planning and I would argue that the very people who have let this political collapse happen to North Somerset are the same people that are shoving an unpopular Tropicana development down the throats of an ignored electorate. Some of these councillors and officers have been in the council for 30 years or more. Is it coincidental that those same faces have overseen the demise of a once-vibrant and desirable area? Constitutional change anyone?JIM BARTLETT - St Ives Road, Bournville