MADAM,

Much of Mrs Buckland’s recent letter about Chippenham Mead is very fair (‘No more interfering with Chippenham’ 7th September).

Chippenham Mead has been badly mismanaged over the years, and it has suffered as a result of  – whatever other benefits they may or may not bring to the town – of Waitrose, the boys school and the bypass. But her letter is also both mean-spirited and misleading.

To snipe at the Friends Of Chippenham Mead for having the temerity to pick up litter is surely aiming at the wrong target, especially when the response of the town council to litter (with some exceptions) is negligible. It is also an extraordinary leap of logic to compare the aims of Friends of Chippenham Mead to those people who have sold off swathes of village green. The Friends Of Chippenham Mead’s aims are to improve the village green and make it an area that is both more accessible and enjoyed by a wider variety of users. For people of any age to be making remarks about the transient power and influence of the young in a local newspaper is deeply ironic.

Much has been written in these pages about Chippenham Mead, and what lies at the heart of its recent debate has perhaps become rather unclear. In essence, there is a group of people that want the playground area to be improved, and there is a group of people that want the playground area to be not only improved but also moved to a different location within Chippenham Mead that they feel is more appropriate, safer and more accessible. There is a group of people that say that they support the idea of moving it in principle but are worried by the difficulty that work would involve. There is also a group of people that want there to be as little change to Chippenham Mead as possible, and think that building a playground amounts to damaging the village green. Doubtless there are also many other groups of people with a wide variety of views.

There is much discussion about the legality of different proposals, and a great deal of confusion about what the chain of command is that would enable any of these changes to happen. It is understandable that much debate should arise from these sort of discussions, but what is less understandable is the sneery and unpleasant tone that has also arisen at times. None of the people involved in the debate want harm to come to Chippenham Mead, but some of their ideas of what represents progress and improvement are at odds. Everyone who is or wishes to be involved in the debate, irrespective of their age, or origin or experience, deserves to be heard fairly and to be treated with respect, and should also be expected to treat others in the same way. It is the responsibility of all councillors, campaigners, journalists and other interested parties to ensure that this happens.

(Name and address supplied)