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It's not the gardens close to the beach reconstruction that really worry me - they should be used to house the beach huts, that would get them off the beach and give everyone a sea view - it's the cliff-side gardens around the Spa Pavilion,which were once the real attraction of the town. We had a landslip a few years ago, and if you look at the gardens beneath Ranelagh Road you can see cracks appearing, and those pathways have been closed, as they are waterlogged. They are a potential danger.
Further along, just below the Cliff Tea Rooms, the 'grotto' and pond area has been drained (and where did the fish go?) and that area is now faling into decay. The council concentrate on bedding plants in a few selected areas, and hanging baskets, but ignores the real gardens. What is Britain in Bloom if it is not to be concerned with the preservation of public gardens? Is it content to see acres of land fall into into disarray and praise a few petunias in pots? I'd like to see the criteria that allowed Felixstowe to be selected as a finalist. Where are the reasons behind that decision? Did these people really look at the town? Or were they content to be shepherded around to a very small number of selected sites by council officials? Felixstowe has very little open space. It has the sea, but just one small park where children can play, nowhere but the beach promenade for a quiet stroll. The cliff gardens should be a source of pride and joy - instead they are a disgrace. OK, that's the case in many towns, but such factors become very important when the town is a finalist in Britain in Bloom. It's right to identify the problem - but very wrong to suggest that this town represents the best that coastal towns in Britain can provide. Remember that this competition helps to attract tourists - and unless the intention is to show visitors a town in decay then Felixstowe should not have been selected. I'd like to see the justification for that decision
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