SOME years ago, Joni Mitchell penned a profound pop song that went, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got 'til it's gone, they've paved paradise; put up a parking lot".

The planning application for the Abbey Stadium is now in. Are we really going to concrete over this splendid area of the Arrow Valley Park?

My family enjoys regular walks, cycle rides and jogs across the delightful meadows of the park and playing games on the outdoor fields at the stadium.

A few years ago on our walks in the park, we would often meet a neighbour, Alf, enjoying a leisurely walk with his dog, Oscar.

Alf was a wonderful old Brummie gentleman who loved to reminisce about the hardship of his working life in dowdy and grim factories in Birmingham.

He would recall what it was like to grow up in the back-to-back streets with no "green" outdoor areas to play in.

He revelled in the fresh air and open spaces of the Arrow Valley Park.

I imagine Alf is looking down on us now singing "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got 'till it's gone FOR EVER, a green paradise; put up a parking lot".

Mark Blamire-Brown

Hither Green Lane

Abbey Park