SIR,

My husband and I read with interest about the environmental concerns in town (15th August), and especially the four main points the Monmouth Civic Society wishes to have improved in Monmouth, in a letter from 1st August. The public was invited to give their thoughts.

Re Mrs Teresa Taylor's letter (8th August):

We felt tidying up the Wyebridge Underpass is a very good idea, as it benefits town residents and visitors alike.

Seeing it gets consistently abused, maybe another option to tiling would be to invite the arts departments of the three schools to bring out their keenest and best graffiti artists and give them the brief to produce something beautiful, colourful, cheerful.

Using the best gloss paint available would make it possible to regularly clean and hose down the underpass without being too expensive, and peer pressure may even prove preventative to rude and ugly graffiti appearing again.

And while they are at it: Yes please, can we have some colour on the plain new concrete bridge over the Monnow, as Stephen Starkie suggests?

Personally, I love the Union Flag on the Shire Hall, and wish it would remain, or occasionally be replaced by a Welsh Dragon.

I also love the bunting down Monnow Street and wish we could have it up every summer; I find it brightens the town up whatever the weather and is surely inexpensive.

Equally cheering and easy to achieve would be to have a more consistent summer display of flowers again up and down Monnow Street, and yes, I agree with the Civic Society that the townsfolk should have a perpetual say in the future green status of the beautiful Vauxhall Fields.

Evi Williams

(The Kymin, Monmouth)