AS the Portobello fiasco drags on, I and many other East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs residents have become increasingly disillusioned and distrusting of our elected town council.

Earlier this year a post-referendum was held to enable residents to confirm what our stance was on the proposed waste processing site and sale of Telscombe Tye land to Southern Water.

More than 70 per cent of those polled responded and more than 90 per cent voted emphatically to reject the proposals or any further advances from Southern Water.

I was one of several hundred local residents who turned out on Tuesday night to attend a council meeting called to discuss and agree whether to sell part of Telscombe Tye rather than wait for the result of the public inquiry.

The logic applied by the council appears to have been that if the inquiry finds in favour of Southern Water, then the land in question will only be worth around £2,000 under compulsory purchase rules.

If a private agreement is reached, there's the possibility of the council receiving something in excess of £115,000.

But local people reject that emphatically. The referendum was explicit. We do not want to sell. We do not believe the site is appropriate (for all of the many ecological, economic and personal arguments stated many times before and fully documented as part of the official Government inquiry).

The meeting was nothing short of ridiculous. Fewer than 100 of the 400 or so who turned up could fit in to the tiny council chambers. I was fortunate enough to be one of those on the inside.

A proposal to censure and dismiss any council member who had any further dealings with Southern Water was eventually seconded and approved.

A proposal for a vote of no confidence in the council was seconded, and ignored. Sadly, I fear the naive intentions of individuals within the council together with the petty cross-party politics demonstrated to the electorate have done nothing but harm to the local community.

How sad such a beautiful area can be so marred by commerce and politics.

My heartfelt thanks go to all members of the Campaign for Residents Against Portobello. They alone appear not to have lost the focus for us.

Perhaps it's time the town council listened to the calls for their resignations.

-Christine Coombes, Telscombe Cliffs, Brighton