Kevin Pyne, of Lake Street, Dartmouth, writes:

I will probably get flayed alive for saying this by some over pushy drift-in that sees locals as a kind of nuisance to be tolerated because they simply like the place as it is, not how they seem to want to make it. However, if that's the case, then so be it.

I am of the strong opinion that no matter what festival or for whatever reason, in the most recent case it just happened to be the food festival, no heavy lorries and vans should under any circumstance cross onto the paving slabs in the Royal Avenue Gardens beyond the embankment side of the bandstand.

If they truly need to go there, then the ground should be covered in something substantial so as to disperse there weight evenly.

It's a beautiful area that was designed by one of the foremost landscape designers in the country, just after she left university. She has gone on to win numerous gold's at Chelsea, and to acclaim internationally.

It would then not be unreasonable to say that in its way the paved area of the gardens, has the same kind of design pedigree, as might a work by Capability Brown in his era, and that it is truly a design classic of its time.

The paving slabs are beginning to get cracked or lift up and sink down and are covered in tyre marks and cooking fat and grease. Now, seemingly, someone thinks it is okay to spray yellow paint on the ground when it is used, as it has always been, for a parade square as we remember those who gave their lives for us. Surely tape would do instead of paint, or permanent neat brass or copper inserts driven in place would be much more appropriate, even nicer,

Trolleys would do instead of lorries. Even a small tractor with wide tyres and a hydraulic lifting arm could be used, so as to spread the load when heavy things must go in there.

The council's gardens department have recently started using a much lager vehicle in the park than the small, wide- wheeled tractor and trailer originally purchased and rightfully considered adequate for its purpose.

All of us appreciate that exhibition space is desperately scarce within the town and no one wants to stop the use of the gardens for tented gatherings or for occasions that promote the town or does it and its residents an organisations a bit of good, although who wouldn't question why some of the tat that goes in there at various times is allowed?

Yes it is always going to be that our common spaces need to be versatile and utilitarian, however they are ours first and not to be hired out or pinched, obstructed or exploited by the district council or its officers who, in most cases, don't have a clue why we value things in the way we do, seeing us as no more then rateable units

First and foremost, they should realise how precious all the local parks and spaces are to all of us.

Our open spaces must be cherished, appreciated and looked after or they will be eventually lost to us.

My letter is not a dig at the food festival, which I very much enjoyed, nor any other festivals which use the area.

Our park is beautiful. It is also where the names of those who laid down their lives for us are recorded and remembered before it is ever anything else. It needs to be kept for their sakes, if no other reason, in a pristine condition.