I was almost apoplectic when I read Colchester Council had actually created, and filled, a post of “Health Walk Activator”

(Gazette, health section).

What immediately came to my mind was the oftrepeated phrase by that inimical sceptic, Victor Meldrew, “I don’t believe it”.

Apparently, the health walk activator’s job is to encourage and show people how to go “walkies” to improve their health.

My wife and I take our two little border terriers “walkies” to keep them (and us) fit and healthy – they are not really sensible enough to work out for themselves that such activity is essential for their good health and wellbeing.

But, is it really necessary, or even the council’s responsibility, to spend considerable sums of council taxpayers’ money on providing such a service?

I think not. Much better, surely, to spend some of that money on maintaining public footpaths, especially between Prettygate and Lexden, to a standard that would enable them to be used in all weathers.

In affluent times, this post would be regarded as a waste of council taxpayers’ money; in the present dire economic climate such unnecessary spending must be, at the very least, an irresponsible extravagance.

If a health problem exists with the public, then it must surely be the responsibility of the NHS to deal with, not the council.

With obesity on the increase, and concern with the unhealthy lifestyles adopted by so many people, there is already an abundance of advice being widely circulated to encourage healthier living, including regular walking.

There are also many voluntary organisations, such as rambling clubs, to “…encourage people to enjoy their natural spaces through health walks”, to quote from the Gazette story.

Some years ago, in the Monty Python series, that greatest of comedy actors, John Cleese, performed an extremely funny sketch called the “Ministry of Silly Walks”.

Has Colchester Council now become the Silly Ministry of Walks?

If there were a national competition to find the most ridiculous official, money-wasting non-job ever created by a local council, Colchester’s health walk activator must surely be the favourite candidate to win.

I have since discovered this post is a two-year appointment that ends in June this year.

So, please, Colchester Council, let us over-burdened council-taxpayers see an end to this nonsense and give us an assurance that this ridiculous, expensive post will never be renewed.

Ron Levy
All Saints Avenue
Colchester