In a recent article (Kingston Council told to "rethink" its property portfolio, June 11) it was reported that the Chief Executive of the Tax Payers' Alliance was telling Kingston Council to rethink its property portfolio which includes three golf courses and two cafes.

While Mr Isaby is right to say councils should ensure they get full value from their assets he should not assume that all taxpayers or indeed community charge payers would agree with him that this means sales.

Kingston owns the freehold of three golf courses - neither Coombe Hill nor Malden make any mention of this on their webpages.

Coombe Wood is more transparent telling us that they have a lease for which they paid £575,000 until 2119 at a ground rent (inflated by RPI every 5 years) set at £500 pa in 1993.

Their history also tells us Coombe Hill paid £1.2 million but no dates or ground rent details are given.

Perhaps the Comet could usefully shine some light on all the arrangements?

The two cafes listed - the Clocktower and the Riverside - are probably minor by comparison to the golf clubs but the Riverside was a largely unused building which now provides a great local amenity and the same is true of the Clocktower which was formerly a closed lavatory.

Councillor Humphrey’s comments in the Comet were very sensible but it would be good if the council could now be more transparent about all these arrangements and especially the golf clubs, at least one of which is clearly very high end and hardly what might be thought of as a community facility for all the people of Kingston.

PETER WILLIAMS

Surbiton