IT looks as if Ilkley, Craven and Wharfedale Wards are each in line for a windfall of £100,000 from the sale of Leeds Bradford Airport.

It would be churlish to look a gift horse in the mouth but it is worth considering the change of attitude which has gradually crept in over the past few years.

To take an even longer historical perspective, our not so distant ancestors were using public money to construct magnificent local monuments to prosperity such as City Hall, Bradford, Ilkley Town Hall, and the King's Hall, as well as many fine corporation buildings across the district.

While the general economy of the nation since the 19th century has improved, how come we are failing dismally to maintain and improve the buildings the Victorians bequeathed to us as a wonderful legacy?

In the more recent past we considered the upkeep of our legacy as part and parcel of the local authority's job. Despite the fact that Council Taxes have risen at well above inflation rates for as long as anyone can remember, there is no money in the City Hall pot for capital projects.

We should not have to rely on the sale of the airport or any other major asset to improve our public buildings - it should be done as a matter of course.

We have now come to regard the cash to improve assets as a manna from heaven or a Nation Lottery win, not as routine. Such an acceptance of failure does not bode well for the future.

The Mr Micawber attitude to public services only works when something does actually turn up. The state of our potholed road and blocked drains shows that most of the time it doesn't.

Extra cash to spend is always good news but that doesn't mean it is going to make us forget about the bad.