Dear Editor - I was horrified to read in the Advertiser/Messenger, dated June 25, about the ludicrous suggestion being proposed by Stoke Prior Parish Council to take over the disused Scout hut in Ryefields Road for use as a community centre.

Apart from the phenomenal cost involved in redevelopment, the existing building is unsafe and would need to be demolished.

It is well known from the experiences of other towns and villages that community centres are a magnet for vandals, graffiti artists and arsonists. Once that culture becomes established in the village, undesirable types from further afield will be attracted to join in the destruction and it will very quickly spread to the village school just a few yards away.

The long term effect will be massive increases in council tax bills to pay for the mistakes being proposed today.

As far as parking is concerned, studies have shown many times that people will not choose to park further away from their destination than they absolutely have to. In other words, the road outside the school and the doctor's surgery will become clogged up before anyone will consider using the proposed new car park.

If Stoke Prior Parish Council is so flush with funds that a proposal on such a scale can be considered, perhaps it could use the money to provide something for the village, which is both long overdue and desperately needed - an adequate car park at the village hall.

Stoke Prior resident.