Dear Editor,

IT is not often I am compelled to write two letters within the space of a couple of weeks to the editor, but the propaganda promulgated by Mr Pickard puffing up ‘his’ lagoon project, in the February 13 edition leads me to believe our cherished Exmoor coastline is in clear and present danger of being grotesquely disfigured.

Without wishing to be too graphic, try and visualise some of us confined in a room with the ‘The Elephant Man’.

He is sitting directly in front of us.

For the moment, let us imagine that his heartbreakingly deformity is hidden beneath his cloth hood, so as to be invisible, yet somehow troubling.

Now, let us somehow compass in our minds, the horror we experience as the Elephant Man’s agent/promoter draws up the hood and reveals the utter devastation which cruel nature has visited upon a sentient being.

We experience both complete revulsion, yet at that moment, weep inside for the crushing burden he endures.

This approximates how I felt when I read the contents of West Somerset Lagoon’s propaganda unit, sorry, their website.

As I opened page after page, it was very much like the hood of Elephant Man being removed to expose the true visual and cultural horror of what Mr Pickard and his band of banking/private equity chums have in store for our beloved Minehead and Exmoor coast.

I repeat, a grotesque disfigurement by the sheer industrialisation of what is presently a tranquil and historic coastal area.

I would urge readers to retrieve their Free Press papers of February 6 and again read Rod Scotney’s most penetrating and affecting description of what our community would lose, should Mr Pickard et al, foist upon us, this insufferable excrescence.

The project prospectus shows an extensive and ungainly assortment of buildings at ‘Minehead Landfall’.

The odd bone is thrown out to us poor gullible locals, a ‘bookable village hall’, in exchange for the erasure of our heritage. Wow, thanks!

It would be just the beginning of the visual catastrophe, right where our old harbour is.

There would also be ugly, wholesale industrialisation of our cherished bay, encircled with mile upon mile of massive concrete barrage.

Also, I am entirely unconvinced it would be a tourist attraction, more like tourist repulsion.

Like the dodo, it won’t fly.

I hazard that the construction carbon footprint would in all probability not be expunged during its proposed 120-year lifespan.

That is not mentioned in the prospectus, too inconvenient, let’s not go there.

Cement production is one of the highest producers of CO2 known to man.

Add to that, years of plant and machinery, belching out pollutants.

Of utmost irony, is that unlike poor old Elephant Man, whose features were ravaged by the vicissitudes of nature, this proposed lagoon disfigurement will have been wrought by man, or more specifically, the directors of this risible project and their political hangers’ on, the former who stand to roll in silk for the rest of their days on their newly purchased private islands, should it come to fruition.

I suggest the whole package should be consigned to the waste bin of history.

Our West Somerset community has already borne the burden of Hinkley Point’s industrialisation of our coast.

We have done our share of hosting carbuncles ‘for the greater good’.

Enough is enough.

Chris Miller

Minehead

Dear Editor,

I WAS somewhat dismayed to discover the photograph I supplied to you in good faith was published in last week’s Free Press without even the slightest mention of the photographer!

Being that this photograph has turned out to be the most viewed photograph I have ever taken, to say I am disappointed is a bit of an understatement!

With no photo credit whatsoever in your piece, the reader will assume that you yourself took the photo won’t they?!

If I get the opportunity to capture any more unusual print-worthy photos you can rest assured the Free Press will not be getting them.

Percy Hill

Editor’s note: We sincerely apologise to Mr Hill for a glitch which meant that although on our website, his photographs of a suspected Russian spy ship at anchor off Minehead before the Government ordered it to leave UK territorial waters, were correctly credited, the by-line did not transfer through to our print edition.

Dear Editor,

CATS Protection is calling on the public to sign its open letter after the Government’s new ‘Animal Welfare Strategy’ failed to include any regulation of cat breeding - a decision that puts cats at growing risk of harm.

Harmful and extreme breeding practices, including the emergence of breeds such as the so-called Bully cat, are increasing.

Without regulation, anybody can breed kittens with no welfare standards, leading to serious health, behavioural and welfare problems.

We are dismayed the Government has chosen to leave cats behind.

By failing to address harmful breeding practices, the Government has effectively sanctioned the continued escalation of dangerous trends, allowing sick and suffering cats to be bred.

It sends a troubling message, that cats do not matter enough to receive the same protections as other animals.

We urgently need public support to demand meaningful action.

Please help us advocate for cats by adding your name to the open letter here – www.cats.org.uk.

Madison Rogers

Associate Director of Advocacy and Campaigns

Dear Editor,

A big thank you to players of People’s Postcode Lottery in the South West for their commitment to improving global health.

Since 2019, they’ve helped raise an incredible £16.6 million to support Sightsavers' work in Africa and Asia.

Your kindness is vital at a time when global health systems face immense financial pressure.

It helps us work with Governments and partners to improve access to eye care, glasses, and sight-saving surgery.

Dr Caroline Harper

Chief executive

Sightsavers