I HAVE to respond to Mr Rogers' criticisms on the subject of sea defences. I have received a flurry of fanatical e-mails from Mr Rogers and have had him bending my ear on the phone for almost an hour! I did explain to him that my plan as pictured in the

I HAVE to respond to Mr Rogers' criticisms on the subject of sea defences. I have received a flurry of fanatical e-mails from Mr Rogers and have had him bending my ear on the phone for almost an hour! I did explain to him that my plan as pictured in the Mercury was an idea, a concept, not necessarily the final solution. I also explained that I have tried to promote this idea all along primarily as a breakwater scheme, with phase one mainly being for sea defence and the money to pay for it coming from central government, not local ratepayers.I asked Mr Rogers what his answer to the sea defences would be. He told me he was planning to sell his house and move away. As for Brian Austin's outburst, I am amazed that a supposed historian is actually in favour of having our lovely seafront ruined by this hideous Berlin Wall scheme. I am also amazed that he has mentioned who owns the mud as he puts it, before ascertaining the facts! A copy of the 1937 title deed shows that the council owns the foreshore and not the Crown Estates.As for any other detractors I would simply say this is a far more serious issue than just a few individuals having a spat in the local paper. We are talking about the future safety and economic wellbeing of our whole town.My plan is only a concept but we do have to do something. I do not believe the council's preferred cheapskate splash wall scheme does justice to the town. I think it will destroy what is left of our tourist trade and will certainly not bring us any economic benefit. More importantly they have admitted that it will not work and protect us from the worst of storms. If anybody out there can think of an alternative solution that will achieve as much, then let's have a look at that instead.We have a once in a lifetime golden opportunity here to get substantial Government funding. We will not be allowed to have two bites of the cherry and go back for more. At least one good thing came out of last week's meeting with the council. We now have dialogue with them and there are moves to have a proper debate on the matter.The Victorians had vision, imagination, the financial means and the guts to think long term and do things on a grand scale for future generations. I think that we have a duty to do no less.M J WOOLLS - Bristol Queen, South Road, Weston