TODAY is, or so I believe, the first day of spring but although the weather is murky the buds on the trees confirm that better days are coming.

Late in the morning most of the other walkers I encountered along my way were of the older generation many with their young pre-school grandchildren.

From start to finish, from the top of Romilly Park Road through the Knap Gardens, Watchtower Bay and the promenade to the far end of the car terrace there was dog mess.

The toilet block at the entrance to Romilly Park is again adorned with graffiti as is the newly-erected fence of the house opposite and in the park the work to repair the benches around the dilapidated tennis courts has yet to be completed. Before Easter last year I reported to the Council's Waste Management Department that there is a piece of discarded household ironmongery lying in the boot trailer park at Watchtower Bay. It is still there a year later.

The grass and weeds that have invaded the pebbles at Cold Knap have encroached further and it is now a magnet for dog owners judged by the volume of faeces that have accumulated there and will no doubt escape the attention of the council's staff should they be deployed to clean up the area before this Easter.

When this is coupled with the eyesore of the area around the dilapidated beach attendant's block and swimming pool those of us who reside here, particularly pensioners, should surely be granted an exemption from the hike in tax as recently imposed by the seemingly uncaring council.

Or perhaps we can dispense with the services of the Heads of Visible Services and Waste Management and use the cash saved to employ a contractor to keep the area and the Vale clean.

R B Douglas Park Road Barry