Land for sport in perpetuity

SIR – Re: Bideford Regeneration: Consie Prust, Pam Paddon and others are quite right with their comments relating to Bideford Sports Ground. I served on Bideford Borough Council for several years prior to re-organisation and I clearly remember the questio

SIR - Re: Bideford Regeneration: Consie Prust, Pam Paddon and others are quite right with their comments relating to Bideford Sports Ground.

I served on Bideford Borough Council for several years prior to re-organisation and I clearly remember the question of the use of Bideford Sports Ground being raised at meetings of the council.

At that time one of the members of the council was Alderman Jack Fulford who had been directly involved years before in the acquisition of the land and he stated quite specifically that it had been acquired for sporting purposes for the people of Bideford in perpetuity and that the council held it in trust for that purpose.

This statement was confirmed as being correct by the then town clerk, Mr Leslie B Galliford who was legally qualified.

With regard to the regeneration generally, exactly how is looking at a few sites on which building has not taken place, and then building houses, going to regenerate the town centre?

Using up scarce land for housing leads to the question of how many of those houses will be affordable for local young persons?

I?see mention of a need for a hotel - can one then assume that the Royal, Tantons and all the other hotels in the vicinity are overflowing?

Whilst on the subject I wonder just how many thousands of pounds, quite apart from the delay, has it cost to conclude that a site halfway up Bridge Street is least likely to flood, while the old Hansen football - which lies below present high water levels - is much more likely to flood!

Any Bidefordian could have given that information in five minutes flat and probably for nothing.

M B Goss,

Bideford.