IN reply to the letter regarding the Party in the Park, I would like to make the following points.

I am amazed there was no awareness of the event, as I felt it was so widely publicised that only the most hardened hermit could have failed to notice it.

The opening up of the park must be applauded, if only to lessen the sense of inferiority engendered by the successful run of festivals promoted annually by Upton, while Malvern cannot raise a single free public event, apart from Malvern Fringe Arts' May Day celebrations (Editor's Note: Not forgetting Malvern Pride Week's Picnic in the Park).

Priory Park should not be regarded as an extra back garden for either the residents of Priory Road or the theatre. It is a public property and full use must be made of it for the enjoyment of the greatest proportion of the population of Malvern.

I would like to congratulate the 'council arts person' - aka. Manda Graham, the organisers of the skate park appeal and Floating Lotus Productions for showing us a new direction in public celebration this summer and I sincerely hope the trend will continue, within a controlled and publicly accountable framework, for the pleasure of the majority.

I would also like to point out that the only soundproof town centre events venue, the Great Malvern Club, has been closed by the Post Office with hardly a murmur of public protest.

If those who wish to confine loud music to an indoor space want to achieve this, then perhaps they can exert some pressure to re-open this facility, which has now been effectively mothballed while commercial interests jostle for possession.

Tim Cranmore, Lower Chase Road, Malvern.