MADAM,

I write with reference to the sad news that Monmouth Town Council has chosen to portray the town as a reactive, regressive place to live following their rejection of the proposal for a new play area on Chippenham Mead.

It strikes me from the letters in your paper over the past few weeks that the vast majority of those who are against the proposal no longer have a reason to use the facilities or view the current dilapidated, polluted and hidden area with sepia-tinted glasses of an "age gone by" that I dare to venture never in fact existed.

It is quite clear that many in the community are hell-bent on ensuring that children such as my own are not entitled to a modern, progressive play area that could increase footfall to the town and provide us with a safe place for our children to interact on equipment that is fit for purpose.

I only hope that the county council see through this thinly veiled attempt to restrict the entertainment available for those in the town who, due to their age, are unable to represent themselves at the town council meetings, and that they overturn this incredibly poor decision in favour of a future that includes all of the young people instead of alienating them.

Matthew Macdonald-Wallace

(Monmouth)