IS a locked gate the answer to rowdy vandalism in Cow and Hare Passage, St Ives? I think it is more likely to create aggro rather than deter it. I am now in my late sixties and, until the erection of this gate, Cow and Hare has always been a regular route

IS a locked gate the answer to rowdy vandalism in Cow and Hare Passage, St Ives? I think it is more likely to create aggro rather than deter it.

I am now in my late sixties and, until the erection of this gate, Cow and Hare has always been a regular route since I was in a pram, from The Broadway to East Street and vice-versa.

When I find this access blocked at night it makes me very angry, especially when I am on my own. I want to be able to take the safest and quickest route from A to B whether I am walking or cycling. I do not want to make detours. Nor do others.

Vandalism and rowdiness are not confined to Mr Webster's street or the town centre, where shop windows are smashed on a regular basis and shop owners now just pay the bills.

A few weeks back in the early hours, I had my front door kicked open. Can I have my road gated, please, because it may happen again? I don't think so.

Users of Hemingford Road created enough when detours had to be made when the road was flooded. I don't think a gate would be acceptable to keep the rowdies from my house or my neighbours'. We just have to put up with it, as do others all over St Ives.

How can Mr Webster be allowed to create a private mews out of a public right of way, especially when Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) spent thousands of pounds of public money making good the road, which had not been touched for at least 50 years, erecting street lights, changing a very neglected right of way to the delightful street we have today.

The developers who built the town houses in Cow and Hare Yard more than 20 years ago did nothing to repair the road or enhance the street, as it was a public right of way, unofficially maintained by HDC.

If Mr Webster is allowed to get his way on this issue, it can only set a precedent for residents who live in other lanes and alleys to erect gates around the St Ives or other towns.

PEGGY SEAMARK

Victoria Terrace

Hemingford Grey