SURELY there are two supermarkets trading in Cinderford, or doesn't Lidl's in the High Street count? It must be there, because recently I bought the cheapest good bottled beer and the best quality chocolate anywhere in the Forest. There were also a large number of customers taking advantage of the advantageous prices the store offers, as I recall.

If Cinderford must have another supermarket, surely Sainsbury's has the better reputation for all-round quality and service and also will be situated near enough to the town centre in lower Station Street to give local, small traders a better deserved chance to stay in business.

Of course, this is so logical that it won't fit in with the plans of the council's planning department will it? What a pity there isn't a new Listers around for that site to once again boost skilled jobs in manufacturing and wages well above the minimum basement.

Also, what's so bad about the Co-op? The Cinderford store is excellent and the Society has a deserved reputation for serving the Forest community, giving out life-supporting grants to an innumerable variety of small charities and organisations over the years.

Cinderford RFC must be particularly grateful. With our disappearing council continuously cutting back funding for the 'easy targets', our local Co-op is more important than ever.

Finally, it's great to see the Forest war horses once again coming out to attempt to defend another part of our heritage, the Northern United Colliery site, under threat from soulless bureaucracy and self-regarding ambition.

"We want to regenerate the area..." says Wendy Jackson, but she doesn't want the colliery buildings retained. She is apparently a regeneration manager, but sounds more like a 'degeneration manager' to me.

Viable plans were presented by local people, to preserve and economically regenerate our last 'Deep Mine of Dean' several years ago, but they were rejected in a typical off-handed fashion by the powers-that-be.

Now we are to have a new mine at Northern, called the 'Bottomless Money Pit' which will 'save Us All'.

Finally a question for Wendy Jackson. Are you the Forest of Dean Regeneration manager or the Cinderford regeneration manager? If you are the Forest regeneration manager, what are you doing to regenerate the Coleford area, so that its community won't suffer the devastating effects of losing all its sport, cultural and leisure facilities to the Cinderford area?

John Belcher,

Voter and Cynical Senior Citizen of Joyford Hill