OVER recent years the Barry & District News has been recipient to quality and informative letters on Vale Council matters.

At this time with the certainty that councils in Wales are to be reduced to 12 from 22 then it is hugely important that the correct decisions are made.

Recent letters have focused on the debate with whom the Vale will merge with. The shenanigans of the current council decision give no room for confidence.

Before 1974 Wales had 13 councils based on the traditional counties. After 1974 the County of South Glamorgan was created which integrated Cardiff and the Vale.

A further change was made in 1996 when both become separate entities. This is still the current situation.

Now the council has backed a decision for the Vale to merge with Bridgend County Council due to the similarities that both possess.

I could not think of two councils with such dissimilarities. Most of the Bridgend council area is composed of the old mining valleys. What similarities do Penarth and Cowbridge have with Blaengarw and Pontycymer?

Bridgend gets EU grants, and their council tax is still 13 per cent higher than ours.

Most of the Vale population look towards Cardiff for employment, leisure, shopping, etc. Health is already merged with Cardiff. Bus services are widely Cardiff throughout the Vale.

On top of all this Alun Cairns MP in his column has shown that Cardiff has a much larger grant from the Welsh Assembly than the Vale.

Finally the Vale has always had a well balanced political chamber. If integration with Bridgend occurs then there will be a one party domination forever. Integrate with Cardiff then there will be a continuation of balance.

South East Wales is an integral unit geographically and even recently historically.

Your contributory letter writers of Messrs Harkus, Evans and Radford have provided us readers with information that we could not get elsewhere.

G E Thomas

Barry