SINCE I began writing this regular column, I have had a varying level of reaction to the subjects I have touched upon. Some provoke little or no response either way. Others seem to hit a raw nerve, whether it be pro or anti. Until last week, I would say that my preference for the lifestyle and habits of the fox as opposed to those of the hunter had provoked by far the strongest reaction.

Over the years, I have fulminated against cuts in Education spending and the intolerable pressure on our teachers to create trophy children from a gene pool not of their creation. I have railed against the jobsworth mentality in many areas of public service. I have voiced my despair at the continuing rise in the universal acceptance of self interest as a way of life and the erosion of decent standards of behaviour. I have moaned about the abuse of our language which results in such linguistic untruths as "positive parking", "for the convenience of our customers", and "rationalisation" which, in fact, really mean, respectively "no parking", "for OUR convenience" and "wholesale redundancies and increased profit."

Yet nothing I have written has resulted in quite so many fulsome messages of support and thanks as I have received in the last week from other people who cannot now deposit their domestic refuse in county council refuse disposal sites. Friends, who had never felt moved to mention my column before, have seized my hand with tears in their eyes, muttering "Thank you! Thank you!"

I have been approached in the street by taxpayers who share my frustrations at the cavalier disregard for them shown by the county council and are relieved to realise that theirs was not a voice crying alone in the wilderness.

Clearly I tapped into a well of silent majority outrage, when I highlighted the casual attack by the county council on drivers of vehicles higher than five feet nine inches.

The reason that they are not welcome at South Bucks waste sites is that their vehicles are similar in height to those used by tradesmen who wish to avoid paying the charges levied by the county council for depositing trade waste. The supreme tactician at County Hall, who shares Marie Antoinette's legendary flair for empathising with the needs of the populace, clearly has a desire to incur the loathing of every 4x4 and MPV owner in Bucks. Seemingly, it has not occurred to him that it will pay the trade tipper to attach a tow bar to one of his other vehicles and deposit his contraband waste from a trailer. But someone, say, with more than three children who has acquired their larger vehicle to accommodate their family - as well as the extra volume of garbage generated by a larger family - is not quite as likely to have a fleet of vehicles and/or a trailer to enable them to deposit their otherwise acceptable waste at the site. I am emboldened by the extraordinary level of approval for my words last week, therefore, to bang on about this topic again. I am sure that the dozens of people who have voiced their gratitude to me for airing the subject will share my interest in seeing if anyone from the county council can, through this paper, offer us a sensible suggestion as to our future strategy for the disposal of those items which, until a fortnight ago, we were able to take to the waste sites. And when the fly-tippers deposit their building rubble, mattresses and old fridges in country lanes, bridle tracks and areas of outstanding natural beauty where householders are not allowed to put up so much as a garden shed without getting planning permission, will the local authority come and clear it up?

And who will be paying for that?

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.