SIR - I am writing to you about the article that was on the front of the latest edition of The Stevenage Comet about the Threat to Wildlife at Fairlands Valley Park. I would particularly like to pick up on the phrase in the article The boys who were fish

SIR - I am writing to you about the article that was on the front of the latest edition of The Stevenage Comet about the Threat to Wildlife at Fairlands Valley Park.

I would particularly like to pick up on the phrase in the article 'The boys who were fishing ran off while we attempted to find a park ranger'. For your information, in December 2007, Stevenage Leisure Ltd handed back the management of Fairlands Valley Park to Stevenage Borough Council, making them no longer responsible for the Park, only for the Sailing Centre. Although I believe overtures were made on my behalf for me to be retained by the council as Park Ranger, this never amounted to anything and resulted in myself being made redundant on December 14, 2007.

To date, Stevenage Borough Council are emptying the bins and clearing the litter in the park, but there is not, to my knowledge, a Park Ranger - of course this means that no regular safety patrols are carried out and the fishermen have no one to answer to, hence the current problem.

Another problem I would like to bring to your attention is that there is no longer a public first aid facility in the park - I do feel that this should be addressed along with the safety/security of the park users, especially as the park seems to be full of hazards at the moment due to the redesign/repair work being carried out throughout the park.

In my experience, it is not enough just to put signs up and expect them to be obeyed - we really need a councillor to take up the baton on this and work on our behalf, so that the people and wildlife of Stevenage can once again have a safe and pleasant environment in which to spend their hard-earned leisure time.

BOB SABINE

Park Ranger from 2000 to 2007