MCHA funds have ensured that floral hanging baskets in Vernon Terrace are once again providing some summer interest and colour for workers, residents, and visitors to the area. It is sad to note how little the City Council is willing to contribute to making our parks, gardens, and streets more attractive. The Council trots out the “government cuts” excuse time and time again but the fact remains that the Council spends freely whenever it chooses. In Regency ward alone £1,000 of Council cash was handed over to “Dan” and “Charlotte” operating under the name of “Art and Believe” rather than pay for the safety test on its own lamp posts which were required for the installation of the floral baskets! The thousand pounds paid for “bright breath-taking geometric murals” according to the “Art and Believe” web site. Its mural on the Bedford Tower, however, has attracted complaints from residents of the Regency Square conservation area; the painting of the Grade II listed bus shelter in front of the Royal Pavilion had no listed building consent whilst the mural inside the Coggins Burger Restaurant in Dyke Road was soon painted over by the new management of Atelier du Vin! Meanwhile the spray paint vandalism this project was supposed to reduce has become dramatically worse In Regency Ward as elsewhere.