The pace of progress?

Supporting those good people, thanks to their taxes and clearly identifiable needs, was it's Community Hospital and Maternity Unit; easily accessible NHS Dentists; a local West Mercia Constabulary Police team with it's own station, police cells and local Magistrates Court; A Probation and Social Services team, a Fire Station and Ambulance Station. Social assets were the Marine Ballroom and Regal Cinema. The census of 2001 reveals an Evesham community of 22,304 souls living within 9419 households.

What remains to support these good people, and a few more besides in 2006, thanks to their taxes and central government's need for corporate efficiency, is just the Community Hospital, Fire Station, Ambulance Station, West Mercia Constabulary, a Social Services team and the Hub.

Of these, plans are afoot for West Mercia Constabulary to disappear off into a regional black hole, the Hospital is managing to cling on by its fingertips and the Swan Lane Social Services team, if you did not already know that, is off to a Worcester base sometime after March this year.

Does anyone know what the talk is amongst Fire and Ambulance managers, regarding the future efficiency of keeping those last two still based in Evesham?

Of course national corporate business has added two huge national supermarkets and DIY warehouses, predictably scuppering loads of smaller local businesses, whilst putting the final seal on our national government's onslaught on the viability of small post offices, which are rapidly disappearing from adjoining villages. And there is the bypass.

This is a democracy we are told, so local and national politicians, who sorted all this out, will no doubt tell us that these developments are what Evesham folk wanted as the town almost doubled in size.

If that is the case, there are definitely more nerds in Evesham now than 25 years ago and they have let their town be truly bypassed!

MICHAEL PARKER, Main Street, Sedgeberrow.