IN recent weeks there have been many letters from Mid Devon District Council employees printed in the Gazette.

I was particularly struck by a pair of letters which were printed opposite each other.

One was from bin men at the district council, thanking the public for their patience during the snow.

The other was from council head of planning Jonathan Guscott, berating this columnist for criticising council plans to charge for giving advice on planning applications.

The letters were so different. The first acknowledged there was a backlog of rubbish to be collected, but the writer also went out of his way to explain the problems and show appreciation to the public.

Jonathan Guscott, on the other hand, lashed out wildly and wrongly, claiming the writer of this column had failed to do sufficient research, had not read the council report and had not bothered to even try to understand.

Last week the letters page carried another such pairing. One letter was from an anonymous council employee, who wrote most eloquently about the difficulties of the job.

The writer also criticised the council for failing to respect its workers and suggested there was a 'blame culture' at Phoenix House, so much so that he dared not print his name.

The other letter was from district council chief executive Gerald Hirsch, who claimed that leaked council plans to vet reports for their "PR impact" before publication, wasn't about covering anything up, but simply about making sure they were written in clear English.

He then suggested the writer of this column would be worried by clearly-written council reports because they "might make his job of finding things to misunderstand more difficult".

And there was also an interesting letter from councillor Terry Snow, which mentioned a council meeting at which the council press officer talked about recent comments in this paper. Mr Snow felt the press officer was calling for the council to engage with the press in order to correct misrepresentation, rather than to manipulate the issue to suit the council's stance. Sounds like good advice.

This all made me think about the dealings I have had with Mid Devon District Council over recent years, as a council tax payer, and as a columnist.

I realised, as a council tax payer, that I could not think of one occasion when a non-senior employee had been anything but helpful.

I mean those who do the real work and suffer the consequences of the policies made by those in charge: the binmen, the library staff, the staff at the leisure centre, the people answering the phone — all of them.

But as a columnist I could not remember a single occasion in around four years when the council's senior ranks had contacted the Gazette to point out a factual error anywhere in this column.

Now the flood gates have opened and the council's bosses are biting back. Yet they're still not saying there are errors, but, rather patronisingly, 'misunderstandings'. I believe these council bosses are confusing two very different things: misunderstanding and disagreeing.

I think I understand the council quite well, but I do admit to disagreeing with some of its actions and plans, and doing my best to hold it to account, which is one of the jobs of the press.