I have just been reading the well-constructed letter from Philip Roe, Letters, January 19, and I hope other readers will digest the many facts and truths it contains.

Dartmouth is changing and the town is not immune from market forces or economic pressures.

But is it beyond the wit of man to come up with better solutions to some of these suggested changes?

We once had four banks – TSB, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest. Is it not possible in this day and age to now have one shared bank?

Is it reasonable to spend £8m on a lease for a building for a new health care facility in a town with a falling population? With a little imagination, why could not the present hospital be used?

We all understand the difficulties the NHS faces and with the advancement of medical skills and an ageing population we accept that we may need to travel to larger hospitals, which will always be required.

It is highly unlikely we will get everything we want and must be prepared to compromise to a degree and ideas and suggestions must be kept in perspective.

Could the original much-valued Dartmouth and Kingswear Hospital building, which was bequeathed to the town, be modernised internally for doctors’ surgeries, with their own parking in the present hospital car park; keep the two six-bedded wards in the newer extension; and with a simple white-lined road marking system in Hauley Road, parking be restricted to support the whole facility? Not perfect, but better than the non-existent parking we have today.

It is my humble opinion that many of today’s problems have been brought on by ourselves.

Decisions are often made by unelected people who seek change for changes sake and to push their own agenda, frequently seeking taxpayers’ funds to achieve their goals.

Surely an understanding of the characteristics and limitations of the town were known long before many of these suggestions were made public.

For Dartmouth Town Council to take on devolution without the professional expertise and management skills of the higher authority and not have procedures in place to stop the wanton vandalism that has taken place in recent weeks is beyond belief.

For the Dartmouth Trust to sell off some of the town’s most photographed buildings and raise excessive rents on shops and buildings, bequeathed to the town, in the name of profit, shows a remarkable lack of feeling and affection for the town – one specially chosen by some of them to come here and live.

In a different vein, is the seeming failings of our much-loved and unique regatta, which has become more of a commercial than a sporting event, to the detriment of most of the local businesses.

We wonder these days who it is all for and is it affordable?

Richard Rendle

Ferndale, Dartmouth