Despite Bill Wiggin expressing his indignation over two pages of the Hereford Times, the message is difficult to decipher.

I wonder what he means by Herefordshire Council “seeking to shut off” town centres, and claiming that people will have to “drive further” to get into their local town?

Is he suggesting that we are hiding our towns, or moving them around?

As Mr Wiggin surely knows, the initiatives to make town centres more accessible to local people have been directly funded by central government.

Measures such as removing on-street parking in shopping streets and timed street closures are being taken countrywide to create space for pedestrians to be able to safely social distance.

We welcome these moves to encourage people to spend more time in town centres, and make them more pleasant for everyone.

Mr Wiggin’s criticism of the council taking over Maylords is surprising. As a financier and asset manager he might approve of acquiring property with rental income at well below its original asking price, not to mention providing Hereford with a unique public asset which includes city centre apartments that will add huge social value to our city.

Mr Wiggin’s regret that the money wasn’t spent on “fixing roads” suggests that he is not aware that Maylords was purchased using capital funds.

As for fixing repairs, we are still waiting for the money central government said they would provide for flood recovery.

Sadly, Mr Wiggin has failed to secure the funding he promised us.

Coun Diana Toynbee

Hereford