TENSIONS are running high in Letchworth GC as preparations are made to fell four established trees in the town centre, writes Louise McEvoy. Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation has fenced the trees off, ready for the chop as part of the town centre

TENSIONS are running high in Letchworth GC as preparations are made to fell four established trees in the town centre, writes Louise McEvoy.

Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation has fenced the trees off, ready for the chop as part of the town centre redevelopment. In their place, two shops - with flats above - and a fountain will be built.

Surely the Heritage Foundation's primary aim regarding the redevelopment is to enhance the town centre and improve shoppers' experiences. A petition containing almost 20,000 signatures opposing the felling of the trees certainly tells the Heritage Foundation that this aspect of the redevelopment is not what shoppers want.

Regardless of the fact planning permission has been granted for the work, the Heritage Foundation should surely review its plans in light of the overwhelming public opposition to it.

With Stevenage town centre set for a �500 million revamp, and the lure of charming Hitchin on the doorstep, the Heritage Foundation cannot afford to alienate shoppers from Letchworth GC. It is entirely possible that people will boycott the shops to demonstrate their disapproval of the plans, with catastrophic consequences for retailers and the local economy.

SADLY, family lawyers have reported a tenfold increase in recent years in couples signing pre-nuptial agreements.

These agreements are not legally enforceable in England and Wales, but courts are paying more attention to them in their rulings.

Bizarrely, the Tories - the party of marriage and of family - is pushing for pre-nups to become binding. I sincerely hope they don't.

They give the sense of a marriage being on trial, with a detailed plan in place in case either party does not live up to expectations.

If you enter into a marriage with the idea it may not work, the chances are it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Pre-nups undermine the seriousness of marriage, and give a relationship a sense of being inevitability doomed.

To have 'divvy up assets in event of divorce' featured on your To Do list when planning your wedding shows uncertainty and a significant lack of trust. Perhaps money, time and heartache could be saved if serious consideration were given to not getting married in the first place.

Cynicism has no place in wedding plans, and that's the bottom line.

THE promise of the Stevenage Carnival returning to the town next year is fantastic.

The event will bring the community together and not only provide a fun day out for all the family, but will also provide a welcome boost for local traders.

But the revival of the carnival hinges on support for it being demonstrated now, during the early planning stages.

If there are not enough volunteers to help organise and run the carnival, it will simply not take place and that would be a great shame. So get behind the carnival and volunteer your services by calling organiser Ian Begg on 07780705119 or emailing him at ianbegg@ntlworld.com