I have recently returned to live near Bude, having spent many years away working in London and overseas. Inevitably I have found changes to areas where I spent the first 18 very happy years of my life. Most of these I accept as reflections of the passage of time. One changed feature of the town's landscape which I find totally unacceptable however, is the total desecration of the area around the sea swimming pool.

I refer of course, to the festoons of rusting railings, many of which have been loosened and battered into distorted shapes by the ravages of the sea. My enquiries indicate that these were put in place in the interests of public health and safety, or to put it another way to protect the council from possible litigation in the event of someone being injured as a consequence of their own foolishness or careless behaviour.

What a farce! Coastal areas are dangerous places anyway for those who do not take a bit of care, and no amount of protective devices are going to stop the occasional accident. The railings we now have are in some places so badly damaged by rough seas (what a surprise! Who could have foreseen this?), that they have been loosened to a point at which they present a greater hazard to the public than a railingless environment.

Worse in my opinion, is the appalling visual pollution the railings create, whether painted or rusty. The short stretch from Summerleaze beach round to Crooklets is surely the heartbeat of Bude's tourism potential. But what do we have? The swimming pool complex which has so many railings that it looks like a no-go area in a war zone; the ruin of the Headlands hotel; and the potentially splendid but wasted resources of the 'Pitch and Putt' course and the tennis courts, which to my knowledge were hardly ever opened last season.

Come on Bude; wake up to your potential. UK tourism is likely to get a boost this year as a consequence of the world recession. Be ready to capitalise on it.

Let the place recapture some of its carefree natural beauty and attractiveness to visitors, and to hell with all this nonsense about railings and public protection. Let people learn to be responsible for themselves. Or do those in authority seriously believe that what has been put in place is really going to reduce the number of accidents?