WELL said Shad Mannan, restaurant proprietor in Ringwood (Echo, December 2) on the matter of Christchurch Road being left out of Ringwood Christmas lights displays.

He said: ‘To walk outside and see the town lit up by Christmas lights except our road feels like we have been excluded from the community.’

Very well put Mr Mannan.

In Upper Parkstone we know exactly what you mean.

Our one mile long high street Ashley Road is left out of BCP high street displays every year for years.

So many great stores and cafes and restaurants and other outlets in the high street working hard year round you could not more highly praise.

Makes the world of difference for all of us living in the area. And many have decorated their stores.

But when it comes to raising funds and organising Christmas lights Ashley Road has ended up in a political ‘no-man’s-land’.

Meaning if anyone is to organise lights it has to fall on our elected and funded local councillors.

Most regrettably year on year none of them want to know. And the reason for that not least Ashley Road falls on a political boundary. South of Ashley, Penn Hill and Parkstone, the Tory group, north of Ashley Heatherlands, the Lib Dem group.

They won’t work together. None of them will take the initiative to raise funds and organise and so it is our high street misses out every year the past ten years and more.

Before that going back to the 2000s a group of us did make a huge effort and we did raise funds – several thousand pounds – but never has one local ward Cllr joined in to take a lead to keep Christmas lights going year on year.

The only coloured lights we do have in Ashley - traffic lights.

Along with planters left in a dreadful state year on year, and fly-tip debris left on the side of the road for a month. Not impressive is it.

We deserve far far better from our elected and funded ward councillor – our so called civic leaders.

JEFF WILLIAMS

Jubilee Road, Parkstone