HAVING only yesterday given the nascent independent Blackburn Council unsolicited advice on what is expected of it when self-rule begins in 1998, this newspaper is glad to see it asking for more - from the townspeople themselves.

For it is embarking on a massive consultation exercise aimed at shaping future services in line with the values and demands of the community.

They will be asking the views of all kinds of people - from business chiefs to schoolchildren.

The goal is to give people what they want and value for money.

This is a welcome exercise.

For, as we stressed throughout the local government reform process, one of the biggest benefits of an all-in unitary council that Blackburn is to become is that it brings local government closer to the people.

And this welcome scheme lives up to that value at the outset.

Too often, the lives of ordinary people are governed by faceless officials and remote representatives.

Let us hope that this imaginative move by Blackburn's town hall bosses is the first of many.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.