Felicity Craig, of New-comen Road, Dartmouth, writes: When I settled in Dartmouth in 1971, after many years living and working abroad, the ­wonderful Harbour Bookshop, run by Christopher Milne and his wife, was the hub of the town as far as I was concerned. I was deeply involved in ­literacy teaching and the bookshop was a treasure house of all the books I could possibly want to get youngsters reading: Roald Dahl, Tintin, Narnia... There was a whole section packed with children's books, plus all sorts of nooks and ­crannies where parents could explore books with their ­children, not to mention a ­wonderful reference section upstairs. But the rents kept going up, fuelled by the greed of the building's owners, London Western Holdings, and in 2011 the then owners of the bookshop, Rowland and Caroline Abram, simply couldn't afford to keep it going. In despair I wrote to London Western Holdings, begging it to take a small cut in rent so as to ­support an 'Aladdin's Cave' that had been a vital part of the town's history for so long. It replied tersely that 'it was not a philanthropic organisation'. The bookshop had to make way for yet another art gallery stocking mass-produced pictures – just what Dartmouth needs. As Karen Perrow's report makes clear, Chronicle, March 6, Tony Fyson, Kathy Stansfield and Andrea Saunders were determined to keep the spirit of Christopher Robin's Bookshop alive, albeit in a different ­location. They moved to the road directly above their former home, setting up the Dartmouth Community Bookshop, with Andrea as the manager, but ­otherwise staffed by volunteers, and an extension to the ­premises is nearly complete. As you can imagine, they are pretty devastated by the news that Ron Johns, who already runs three independent bookshops in the Westcountry, is now planning to open a fourth – in Dartmouth. What can he be thinking of? No, Mr Johns, there isn't room for another bookshop in Dartmouth. Every book that you sell will be a book that could have been sold by the Community Bookshop, if only the buyer had been pointed in the right direction. If the Community Bookshop is helped and allowed to flourish, maybe one day fairly soon it will be able to pay more than one person to work there. Please, Mr Johns, think again. Surely there is a town elsewhere in the Westcountry that doesn't have a bookshop at all and would welcome you with open arms. Do you really have to perpetuate the tradition of all those greedy people, who got us into our present economic mess? The love of money isn't what nourishes and supports a community, rather the spirit of giving, nurturing and cooperation, which is exactly what the Dartmouth Community Bookshop is doing. One thing is certain: none of the local residents, or any of the people who regularly visit our beautiful town year after year, are going to come anywhere near your shop. Is that really what you want? Please think again before it is too late – then maybe you will be able to sleep at night. All the very best to the Community Bookshop.