Jilly Hyde is being a little selective in the truth when she acclaims the good news about Victoria Park and castigates the Echo for not telling all of the good news (Jan 18).

Firstly, I seem to remember a fairly lengthy article complete with a striking photo of Ms Hyde and Tory councillor Kevin Blake extolling the achievements of the council in this regard.

I would also remind Ms Hyde that when the first Laindon School application went to committee it was agreed that any money from planning gain should go to enhance facilities in Laindon.

The Conservative cabinet then followed up by allocating the first lot of section 106 money to improving the Langdon Hills Recreation Ground and towards filling the funding gap for the Sporting Village.

While it is true the council relented with the second phase development of the Laindon School site and followed the recommendation that money should be spent in Victoria Park, we should remember that what is about to happen has taken the Tories over five years to accomplish since promising improvements to the park in their election material. Ms Hyde is quite right in saying Victoria Park should be improved and should be used more.

However, it is a pity she and her colleagues failed to adopt an even-handed approach when she voted with her Conservative colleagues to sell off open space in other parts of the borough.

Pat Rackley
Devonshire Road
Laindon