When I lived in the country, 12 unpaid parish councillors attended to the environment of 5,000 people, using the proceeds of a penny rate.

They employed a part-time handyperson and at the end of the day ensured streets were clean, pavements mended, parking spaces provided, flowers bloomed and so on.

Sometimes, this involved badgering the county and district councils to do work.

If we adopted that model in Brighton (pop 250,000), there would be 50 parish councils and 600 unpaid councillors who would ensure a decent local environment and badger the city council to do its job.

That we have so few councillors (some of them inactive) and so many bureaucrats (some of them inactive) helps explain why the environment is so poor and likely to get worse.

When I walk along broken pavements, full of litter, puddles and unnecessary street signs, I feel this is a city where those who run it couldn't care less. They probably never come here. No parish council would put up with what the city council neglects.

When I look at the ever-lengthening double yellow lines, I think no parish council would accept the current waste of roadside space.

Not only this - we don't even have a political opposition in the city. They are all cosied up to the bureaucrats who run the crumbling show.

So here's a policy for change: 50 parish councils and 600 councillors, with the proceeds of a penny rate.

Good idea or not? A velvet revolution against Messrs Bodfish and Panter?

-Trevor Pateman, Brighton