As tenants/residents living within the borough's 28 estates we now appear to be facing a council conundrum.

At its most simple, on April 1 all residents were asked to pay (for the year 2006/2007) around twice as much for their total estate charges as they had paid in 2005/2006.

This was somewhat surprising, particularly as this multiple was not applied equitably, with leaseholders being very "unlucky".

The other half of this equation appeared just this week when we were all informed that actually the money we had each paid for last year (2005/2006) was more than 30 per cent too much.

The council's reply over this "rebate" will be that residents didn't need/require/request all these services and that it was a mild winter, they couldn't water/cut the grass etc.

Perhaps another point is that we were a well contented borough with lawns/bushes trimmed, paths/estate lighting well maintained etc.

So I just return to this basic equation. We pay more than 30 per cent too much for 2005/2006 so, as a result, we are asked for twice as much for 2006/2007.

One further point. Merton Council has stated it will still be "in the red" on April 1, 2007 in housing services and this is because the simple add/subtract process I have discussed above won't actually happen this year.

Although its services will probably continue at the present mundane level, its management charges (which are non-refundable) are going through the roof.

BRIAN WHITE Garfield Road Wimbledon