I PLAY for the Christchurch and District Community Band and U3A Christchurch Vintage Brass and must point out I am only a player and nothing to do with the management or organisation of these bands.

Although the U3A Christchurch Vintage Brass has Christchurch in its title, the majority of musicians are from the Bournemouth area.

The U3A band enjoyed the privilege of playing to the Bournemouth and holidaying public in June and our efforts where greatly appreciated by those there.

However, from a musician’s point of view it was a great shame to see the state that the bandstand was in – absolutely dirty with dust and scraps of wood all over the place.

The bandstand had to be cleared of condensation and swept and dusted before use just to protect our uniforms.

The doors were all stiff and jammed to the point of possible injury to anyone trying to open them.

And then I read in the Echo of restrictions being imposed to make use of the bandstand even more difficult.

It said in the Echo the restrictions were to safeguard the local residents. What local residents? It is mainly hotels and their guests – exactly the people, as well as locals, bands aim to entertain.

Are the same restrictions being imposed on noisy pubs, night clubs and the new open air theatre at the pier?

The bandstand used to be a well-used, valuable and much-treasured asset of the town, but I wonder for how much longer as the message coming from the council is totally negative.

I believe other towns have sought sponsorship or even lottery funding for their bandstands.

There a number of good quality brass bands in the Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch and New Forest area that would cherish the chance to use the facility.

NEIL MACKAY, Wheaton Road, Bournemouth