It is wholly lamentable that the best Cllr Maynard can muster is some indignant bluster about how annoyed he is that accusations have been levelled so close to an election. In his written response he seems to make a list of things he thinks Rother has done well. That is pointless and wholly irrelevant - he should address the matter at hand. That many of his fellow councillors only learned of the situation from an Observer reporter just underlines the lack of transparency. It borders on farcical. We should not be surprised by this debacle - any town or parish council who has ever tried to work with Rother on devolution issues, such as taking over the running of car parks or public conveniences, knows how hard it is to squeeze important figures out of the district council . Unlike Rother’s muddy and muddled response, the Government letter makes it as clear as day-light that it sees the council as letting down and failing the public it was elected to represent, It is not enough for the council to now say it will play by the rules and put things right - we would also like to see some humility and contrition as well as a frank and open public apology.