The reclaimed land behind and around the Baiter Peninsular and Hospital Island in Parkstone Bay was dedicated by Poole Borough Council as a replacement for the town’s sports and exhibition ground, Ladies Walking Field.

That area was needed to build the popular Dolphin Centre.

By rights a number of sports pitches should have been laid out at Baiter, together with dressing rooms, but this the council failed to do and the area is now the home of other recreational activities.

I note that over the past few years the number of trade and other exhibitions, once popular with visitors and towns people alike, has dwindled.

Is this council policy?

The objections raised by some people to the temporary enclosure for a sporting activity, shows a total contempt for the committed use of Baiter Park.

A nationwide televised volleyball tournament is just what we need to publicise our town and perhaps encourage investment in these cash-strapped times.

These attitudes, by some local pressure groups, highlight the danger of turning our parks and gardens into village greens.

Should Ham Common, Hamworthy Park, Poole Park, Baiter Park, Whitecliff Recreation Ground, Sandbanks Beach and the Branksome Beaches and chines be under the control of their local ‘villagers’, or, through the council, for the benefit of us all?

The problems of the Baiter Pyramid, the development at Branksome Recreation Ground and the late clearance of the temporary buildings on Whitecliff Recreation Ground were all solved by planning and due political processes.

So where is the need for more localised control?

Mike Pauley, Parkstone Road, Poole