THE NEARER council house tenants get to a vote on the sale of their homes the more cynical I become. Take for instance the currently released figures on executive salaries at some of the so-called 'Housing Associations'.

They include, John Belcher (Anchor Trust) £210,000, David Cowans (Places for People) £179,473 and David Bennett £151,000 (Sanctuary Housing Association) (Source: Inside Housing Magazine 24/9/04). That's more money than the Prime Minister earns. No prizes for guessing where that cash is coming from.

Whatever the public in general (and me in particular) say about Macclesfield Borough Council they don't use council house rents to pay fat cat salaries but there is something I can't quite put my finger on.

The moment this article is published I'll receive a number of aggressive e-mails from certain forceful individuals and a particularly arrogant councillor who'll want to bully me into silence. It's all too well co-ordinated to be coincidence. There's an unhealthy intolerance about this housing debate I haven't encountered with any other issue. Somewhere, something is not right.

Macclesfield Borough Council may be far from perfect but I'd put my trust in them before any 'Housing Association', so why are they backing a sell-off? Well, they've been conned before. (Remember Shepherd Developments threat to sue the council for millions if they didn't approve Danegate?)

For a few opportunistic individuals who know how to 'work the system' manipulating the council is not difficult. In the main MBC is made up of public-spirited individuals who want to do the right thing. Exploiting their naivety is not something that hasn't been done before.

I have grave reservations about promises (and threats) that will be made to tenants before the vote. It's a big decision for all the families concerned and any organisation can impress in the short term but what about ten years from now?

With all their imperfections Macclesfield Borough Council have served us well and, if they are not the most dynamic of landlords, they are both trustworthy and honest. There certainly isn't a councillor in the chamber I'd exchange for a £200K a year 'housing executive'.

Sir Nicholas Winterton is not in favour of the sale and if I espouse 'outlandish and ill-informed egotistical rubbish', as one detractor claims, our Member of Parliament certainly does not. Thirty-two years of representing the people of Macclesfield has to count for something. Sir Nick is firmly against the sale as is respected local Labour leader Steve Carter.

Council tenants should ask themselves why?