With regard to the new “Welcome to Bournemouth” sign, I thought we already had a similar sign on the roadside near Cooper Dean.

I note Cllr Williams says “first impressions are everything.”

For visitors, this means the usual smell of sewage in the air close to the new sign, litter along the roadside verges, then a search for limited, over-priced parking near the beach.

I really think £76,000 would be better spent on what people really want “to make our town welcoming.” How about clean toilets, clean beach and promenade and instead of telling people who need a sit down to go into a café and buy a cup of tea, how about a good number of benches along the prom?

This sign is another waste of public funds, up there with the Imax, the surf reef, the BIC pool, and the Winter Gardens.

David Johnson, Cedar Drive, Wimborne