SIR, It was with great relief that I read Canon Richard Pain's letter about the litter problem in St Mary's Churchyard in the Beacon on 15th September. It is now surely time for the community to support Canon Pain and the congregation of St Mary's and assist them in resolving this problem. For all our sakes. No one could fail to see that the litter is getting seriously out of hand. Some of the litter is utterly revolting and a potential health risk to anyone who may come in to contact with the foul substances and perishing foods. But not all of the young people who gather on the seats and doorways are to blame. Many of them are really polite when you ask them to use the litterbin (often un emptied for a couple of days) but then of course some are sadly not so helpful. I think it's great that young people want to gather in the shadow of our beautiful church and, although I'm not a regular churchgoer myself, I think Jesus would be really pleased to have young people meet there. He may even have brought them a cup of coffee and passed round the ashtrays...who knows? I really hope that the community can get together to address the litter problem with the church and the town council (the staff in the One Stop Shop are aware of the problem and are seriously under resourced). We need to consider the reasons why the people choose to litter the churchyard as well as how to go about clearing it up – long term. I suspect that there may be some lack of mutual interest and respect for the different age groups who live and work in Monmouth. May I, through the pages of the Beacon offer my help and encourage others to support Rev Pain and anyone else who is prepared to tackle this problem? Mrs E Walsh (Monmouth)
