“M Hansford (June 2) wrote about more “bollards” from the Council. What a load of old tosh! This is ANOTHER example of the Council listening to the local residents and doing what they want. I attended the Mendip and Treecot Residents’ Association only a week ago where there was almost unanimous praise for these bollards – in fact residents want more. The bollards are there to serve a purpose, which is to prevent motorists parking their  vehicles on the verge. They will soon have signs on them indicating that you should not park on the verge.

How many more times are we going to have the lie that Southend Council – more specifically, the Conservative administration – are going around the town ripping up trees left, right and centre? For every tree that that the Council has removed, two replacement trees are planted – this target has always been exceeded by the Council since it was introduced. The Council even has a tree removal monitoring and reporting system to the relevant elected members of each ward.

For anyone living outside Southend, with so few complaints being made, they must wonder what all the fuss is about.

Councillor James Courtenay
Blenheim Park Ward.”