'Thank you all who do their best for town' - Your Letters and a picture of a historic toll house from 1930, eventually destroyed to a pile of rubble by a careless driver

Newport is trying to become more attractive. There are so many who try to give really good service to their customers, whether it is in the large stores or very small ones. It's great to see people being able to eat and drink outside, even if they have to protect themselves against our new weird English weather!

The volunteers make our streets attractive with flower and litter picking, but we lack a fresh veg and fish store on the main road. We have a good butcher, but one that also sells fresh fish, fresh eggs on the High Street would attract more people to shop in the town. With Poundland closing, there is a great hope within me, that such a store could rise up and flourish.

Thank you all who do their best for Newport.

We do have one great big blackhole, The Victoria Hotel skeleton. For too long it has occupied a valuable space in St Mary's Street. It has invaded the road, which must be not only a real danger, but the building itself that used to be really majestic and a great place to meet up, to have a big do or a delicious meal, then to give a really comfortable place to rest, right in the town for visitors.

There was a long bar for all, a more selective one too, plus a dining room. That was not all. In an extension you had a function room, a ball room with its own bar and plenty of parking. The whole could be accessed on foot from the front and back, making a great shortcut to and from Water Lane, a bonus for everyone. What a loss it was. It's a disgrace now and has been for far too many years.

Surely there is a legal way of dealing with this black spot, and soon? Perhaps the ghost of Queen Victoria could do something about it? She has altered the area round Loch Tummel, but not really for the best, for those who have loved the area for decades, but it and the water, has brought in so much work and many visitors to the area, only the quiet is missing, except by the locks and the reservoirs, which are really worth a visit. The old Queen loved her "home" there, the quiet, privacy and fishing.

Please, for us all take some giant heavy steps to deal with this ruin once and for all – can't we have a really upmarket small hotel again perhaps?

B A Flowers, Newport

Planners are getting in way

Two instances by planners for businesses to move abroad rather than challenge the system, appeared in the Star recently.

One was a former Oswestry hotel which the owners wished to turn into flats, and planning officers wrote a glowing report, citing the suitability of the building, yet the committee turned it down flat, never mind the experts recommendation!

An appeal citing loads of money would almost certainly succeed in this case.

The other was a Telford company, based on an industrial estate, that wished to expand their production of toilet products, and employ many more workers, by extending an existing building. Refused, because of nearby trees where bats might roost!

No wonder production is being switched to China, Europe, or the USA, when such an anti-business attitude prevails in Britain.

Scrap the planning system maybe?

W F Kerswell, Picklescott

Bring out the white flags

Uber-sensitive Victoria Barnes has, like many Labour and other politicians, equated the flying and painting of St George flags with Nazism and Hitler.

The more these people complain the more I'm convinced they will not be happy until we paint white crosses on white flags.

Trevor Howard, Wolverhampton

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