Firstly, as an Exmothian born and bred and having lived here 65 years, I must say how pleased I am to see the vast improvement to the Strand Gardens. It is at last something for us to be proud of and, when the new building is complete, it will be the icing on the cake.

The one draw back is the bus stop outside of the cinema. There should have been a pull-in for the bus to stop, as there is on the other side of the road. This would have stopped the traffic hold-ups when the bus is picking up passengers.

I would also like to compliment the organisers of the Christmas evening in the Strand Gardens. It went off very well, considering having to work around the building site, as it was. I hope that they will be organising it again this coming Christmas with carol singing. A live band would also go down very well.

When the seafront complex is ever finished, this will also be an added bonus to the town.

Exmouth has stood in the past far too long and it is not before time that it moved on. We do not want to end up like the dinosaurs and become extinct.

That brings me on to Budleigh Salterton and the long-lasting row over the Longboat Cafe. This also reminds of the dinosaurs. It would be a vast improvement to the town, it would give the seafront a focal point and, in the evenings, a very pleasant place to dine with the view looking out to the sea.

Is it so bad to want to move on in this life? If you don’t, you become like the buildings that decay and tumble and the dinosaurs and die. For all those who object, just remember you were young once and it is the young people who are the future. We should be thinking about them and not ourselves.

Mr C J Coles

Dukes Road,

Budleigh Salterton.