Sir.-Hurray and well done to the Chineham councillors who have prevented the borough's Cabinet from taking the money put aside to provide sports facilities for Chineham residents.

As for Cllr Gurden's narrow-minded comments about Chineham councillors being "selfish and greedy", all I can say is that it is not selfish and greedy to protect what belongs to Chineham in the first place.

While I understand the need to refurbish the Sports Centre pools, I do not feel that we should be "bailing out" the council.

Furthermore, as a family with three small children, we rarely use the Sports Centre. This is due to the cost and time taken in driving into town, parking and then walking to the facility.

Essentially, it is too much hassle to get there to make a regular visit.

It is wonderful to think that finally we will have some affordable local facilities so that the existing sports teams in Chineham do not have to go elsewhere to play.

It will also be a great opportunity for new teams and clubs to form that can appeal to all areas of our community.

Thank you to our local councillors for all their hard work.

-Jessica Tattersall, Petty's Brook Road, Chineham, Basingstoke.