I was disappointed to hear the Great Malvern Club, formerly the Conservative Club, may have to close due to plans to redevelop the Post Office building.

Over the past few years, the Great Malvern Club has become an important music venue for the local community and while live music is often associated with 'young people', both the audience and performers at the club have ranged in age from teens to pensioners.

Live music is a vitally important social activity for the Malvern community, yet the venue situation gets worse year on year.

When I first came to Malvern in the late 60s, there was a major band on at the Winter Gardens every weekend, local hotels such as The Foley Arms, The Mount Pleasant, The Park Hotel and even The Abbey Hotel hosted weekly gigs and live music could be heard at significant number of pubs including the Horse and Jockey at Colwall, The Nags Head, The Lamb, The Fountain and so on.

In latter years we were down to the Great Malvern Club and a couple of pubs, but if the Great Malvern Club is allowed to close, it will leave a huge hole in the social fabric of this town - which is a pity as Malvern includes a number of very high calibre musicians among its residents.

It has already been recognised in educational circles that playing music builds team spirit and stretches the intellect, yet officialdom often sees it only as a nuisance.

People who turn their cars into mobile bass speakers are most certainly a nuisance, but the Great Malvern Club has played host to blues, jazz, ethnic and experimental music as well as to pop and dance music, all without inconveniencing anyone.

I'm hoping our council will appreciate the need for more (and affordable) music venues and do whatever it can to encourage the growth of live music rather than the surfeit of canned music to which we're so often subjected. After all, this isn't just something for the kids, it's for all age groups and it benefits everyone. Given the wealth of musical talent in the area, it would be tragic if we were denied the opportunity to hear it.

Paul White (editor in chief, Sound On Sound Magazine), Quest Hills Road, Malvern.

I have travelled the country since 1981 as a musician and actor and along the way met some amazing people working in the arts, in both an amateur and professional capacity.

Among the well-known names I have worked with over the years are Dr Feelgood, Sam Brown, The Wonderstuff, Jason Bonham, The Georgia Satellites, Steve Marriott, Roy Wood, Thunder, Blur and The Levellers.

I have played at Glastonbury, major music venues in London, Manchester and Birmingham, headlined at the likes of the Wolverhampton Civic Hall and the Birmingham Live Aid show in 1985.

My point, however, is that the place where I have discovered the highest concentration of creative and artistic people, in both quality and quantity, is Malvern.

I settled here 5 years ago enraptured by the physical beauty of the area and richness of talent, which still continues to grow.

Is it any wonder that lovers of music, art and theatre become embedded here?

So it makes perfect sense that Worcestershire County Council, under the management of Steve Boffy, our county arts officer and Malvern Hills District Council, are recruiting an arts officer post in Malvern. It's about time.

The rich heritage and history of Malvern will provide a wealth of creativity and talent from which to draw, once the successful candidate has overcome the painful obstacle of being without a venue. Ridiculous isn't it!?

Rob O'Neil, West Malvern.