Since response was invited, I felt compelled to take issue with the letter published last week on the cost of High Town, submitted by Kip Waistell.

I grew up in London where there has been a recent explosion of creativity in building developments. Take, for instance the Millennium Bridge at St Pauls, costing more than £8 million. Few would deny that this is a beautiful and worthwhile construction, focussed squarely on pedestrians. Likewise, with the regeneration work in Hereford City Centre, intoned by Kip Waistell as being money poorly spent, I have to disagree. Yes, there are obviously alternative purposes to which the money could have been put, but all in all I feel that the £125,000 spent on the High Town renovation work was money well spent, and a bargain at the price.

What we need to see more of in Hereford, though, is creative use of High Town, and creative use that makes the most of the new facilities created by the improvements. My hat is off to the persons who sanctioned the development. We now have a city centre space with real potential. The genuine challenge now is to find ways to make the most of it.

A suggestion. How about hosting the 2008 Hereford Food Festival in the city centre instead of at the racecourse? That way, everyone can enjoy the festival, and local traders can also benefit from the extra footfall generated. Plus, the Festival would be hosted in the heart of the county capital, instead of being consigned to its outskirts.

Finally, on the subject of trees, one of the finest cities in Europe, and highly pedestrian friendly, is Sienna. Certainly one of my favourite places, and guess what, no trees at all. However, you would never notice.

Herman Mittelholzer, Newhouse Farm, Wormbridge.