Sir - Is nothing sacred ? The Malverns are a designated area of outstanding natural beauty and the town itself has a unspoiled charm.

The proposal that a cable car could bring thousands of people daily must be a delightful prospect to the retailers but would end the isolation and magic of the Northern end of the hills because crowds will gather at and around the top of the Beacon to a much greater extent than they do now on bank holidays.

In the past large initiatives have stalled for lack of funding. Railways and canals have been delayed and unfinished because the costs are notoriously underestimated.

There could well be a half finished or even totally abandoned project. But the practicalities are not really the issue and there would undoubtedly be some commercial advantage to the town.

The real issue is whether this wild and wonderful place that inspired Elgar should become forever changed by the inevitable daily crowds that would result and the view somehow compromised by the cable car system between its emergence from the valley and the summit as well as the summit station.

Hopefully the constraints of legislation and the will of the Conservators will prevail. If the retailers want more people to Malverm then lay on a free minubus to ferry visitors to the Beacon car park and a few on loan electric wheelchairs for the minority who cannot walk the remaining distance.

Andrew Brown

Worcester