DEAR editor,

I was annoyed this week to learn that the Barry Island beach huts may be offered out to a private company to manage them, after only one year of operation, because they have lost just £215.

The project cost over £3 million so you would expect some thought to have been given to the future management before the project began, there were certainly several comments on social media referring to management arrangements during the construction stage.

I was heavily criticised by the leader of the council, who claimed that "I showed a lack of understanding" when I wrote last year about spending so much money on the scheme while cutting services such as libraries and raising council tax.

And now we find that people are not using the facility, 233 units hired over 12 months is hardly the success being repeatedly claimed by certain councillors. Over 12 months that's just a three per cent occupancy rate.

The council are hoping to place the beach huts out to tender, parcelling them together in a package with the other activities on the Prom which is bound to narrow interest from the private sector.

Is there really a need to be rushing this decision through? Why not keep them running as they are and let schools and community groups use the empty ones for free. At least the taxpayer will get some value from this, instead of some commercial organisation profiteering off the back of us taxpayers yet again.

I just cannot understand how our council justify spending millions on projects then keep giving them to private companies for minimal rents.

It happened with the steam railway, it happened with the leisure centres, and it's now happening with the Beach Huts.

As I have said before, our council officers have a lot to answer for, and somebody needs to be held to account.

Every year we are told how cash strapped the council is! How can we even believe a word of it.

Jonathan Osborne,

FocusBarry member