I have been a resident of Noble Park for very nearly 3 years, in which time I have seen this new estate expand to about 450 houses and flats. I understand that Manor Park is of a similar size. Yet the electorate of these two very considerable developments, with the next general and local elections due so soon (on May 7), still has to traipse down to Christ Church, a good mile away from where I live, to vote.

It seems that no account has been taken of the shift in the population of the borough towards the West where so much building of residential homes has taken place in recent years. We have in the neighbourhood several sites in which a polling station could be located and which would be significantly more convenient to those residents of Noble and Manor Parks wishing to vote. I am thinking especially of the Old Moat Garden Centre (on Horton Lane), Ramsay House (one of the last remaining hospital buildings actually in Noble Park) and the West Park and Cottage Hospital itself. Even Horton Chapel, once it is restored to its former glory, would provide a suitable place to locate a fourth polling station within the borough.

We are often told how apathetic we have all become when it comes to participating in the democratic process. But this apathy is only encouraged when no effort is made to locate a single additional polling station within easy reach of the housing developments on the old hospital sites. Is it too much to expect the authorities to wake up to the rapid expansion of population in this area and to respond accordingly by actively helping voters exercise their democratic right?

Richard Baker

Stamford Ward Residents' Association

Farmside Place

Epsom