TALK up Taunton? You're having a laugh.

Millions spent on cartoon images of ridiculous plans, millions spent on useless roads, constant repairs to shoddy pavements etc.

But the town doesn't provide basic, essential amenities, like seating, shelter and toilets - all of which I have heard visitors make negative comments on, understandably.

Any character has been systematically stripped away. What was a beautiful space outside our castle now resembles a concrete yard.

Cheap 1950s B-movie comes to mind; stone walls, providing an ecological micro-system gone, the fence is less attractive than sheep wire, and as for the hideous, dangerous, plastic bridge, it's an insult to the history of this town.

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The river is a cesspit in need of dredging, with a bridge needing painting.

Empty shops, with empty spaces above which, for a fraction of the cost of building new, could be turned into desperately needed housing.

The old pig market now resembles a featureless subway with lethal, greased flooring.

What is a historic, ancient town, is now a dump without the basics.

Shameful.

L FLOYD
Holway