IRIS KING, of Higherside, Dartmouth, writes:

I write to you concerning the rule made by the council that local organisations who are holding a fete in Dartmouth's Royal Avenue Gardens are now allowed to sub-let to other local organisations.

Normally they charge £5-£10 for an allocated space and a table which the Flavel allow us to have free of charge.

I was always told that the gardens belonged to the people of Dartmouth, to use for enjoyment.

These fetes bring pleasure to locals and visitors alike and much needed money to keep our local organisations solvent.

As for retail people using the gardens, surely you should ban them, not local organisations. This isn't fair, everyone works so hard to keep things going. The only retail I know of was the arts and craft fair, for children with cancer and, if you ban them, then I shall be ashamed to call myself a true Dartmothian, born and bred.

I have been going to the fetes for years to obtain funds for people with learning difficulties at the Ropewalk Resource Centre at Kingsbridge – local people go there.

I can show you receipts for money collected for them.

The money we obtain from these fetes is urgently needed for people less fortunate than us.

I await comments.