I should like to thank Cllrs Steve Gazzard and Eileen Wragg for voting against further development in The Colony.

They share our concerns about flooding, overcrowding and stress on the sewerage systems and, thank goodness, are following through on the fact that they are in a position to do something about it.

Thanks, also, go to whoever arranged for a clean-up in The Colony on Friday. All the old bins which had been left out in the service lanes have been taken, whether full or not, as have the piles of bags. What a difference!

One of our problems here is the number of rented properties, mainly bed-sits. Some of the folk who dwell in these properties seem unconcerned about following council guidelines. I sometimes wonder whether landlords should be made responsible for ensuring that an area is not reduced to slum level by their tenants.

As a friend has just remarked, councils in the Midlands and the North are spending small fortunes on improving the appearance of housing estates. East Devon seems to be going to great lengths to destroy the appearance of Exmouth by filling it with bins!

Ann Prior,

(via email).