I KNOW full well that the Air Festival was founded in Bournemouth with the best of intentions, to support the area by providing entertainment for residents and attract visitors to the town’s businesses.

Since then, times have changed, with most people being aware that air travel is not the big draw that it was.

Bournemouth’s history of holding air shows a hundred years or so ago made it very much cutting edge and ahead of its time.

Surely we can revive Bournemouth’s reputation for health and beauty ( the old advertising slogan) and for being up to date by changing the air show to something now more attractive to everyone.

We have seen crowds flocking to the beaches last year with little consideration for each other or the area, littering and fighting.

Surely businesses and residents want considerate people attracted here, rather than people who don’t care about the environment.

It is a wonderful place for water sports and fitness generally, even if not everyone appreciates the contribution to the local environment made by people swapping cars for cycling and scooters.

This is something to be celebrated in this day and age, especially during a pandemic that attacks the heart and lungs, exactly the areas impacted by air pollution.

I hope that the suggestion to upgrade the Air Festival, building on the organisational prowess of those involved in previous festivals, can now happen.

I’m not calling for it to be cancelled or replaced, just changes made to bring out the best in it.

SUSAN STOCKWELL
Britannia Road, Poole