Dear Editor,

I recently returned from holiday and the first thing on my agenda was to catch up with what has been happening in and around Cardigan while I have been away. I read with interest a letter from R Rea and others in response to a letter from Mr T Phillips about his concerns about the state of the Strand area in the town (issue 22 October).

It is unfortunate the Mr Phillips did not do any serious research into the matter before trying to blame those of us who, along with about three quarters of the people of the town who, for a number of reasons, were totally opposed to the Big Art project.

If Mr Phillips had spent more of his supposedly valuable time really looking into the history of the project he would have been able to see the truth about what happened.One of the issues that he obviously is unaware of is the fact that when tests were done to check the conditions of the subsoil of the Strand it was discovered that the wall that runs along the side that faces the river is beginning to collapse. In order to rectify this situation the work needed to be done would cost a great deal of money. I would be very interested to know where Mr Phillips thinks this vast sum of cash is going to come from particularly in the current financial situation. In view of that scenario, it would be virtually impossible to renovate the Strand before the completion of the work being done to the castle.

MR T D WHITE

Cardigan