THE threat to the traffic island at Barnard's Green roused public concern and resulted in a lively debate among the Conservators.

I was delighted to be able to attend their meeting, not simply to hear the decision, but most significantly to listen to the well-informed, intelligent and thorough debate which preceded the final decision. I now feel a real sense of confidence in the work of the Conservators.

Prior to the meeting I had taken the opportunity to look at the Management Plan in some detail. This had raised some questions in my mind which were further developed by listening to the positions in the debate.

The principles and aims of the Management Plan clearly flow from the Malvern Hills Acts, and properly so. However, it appears to me that the breadth and apparent inclusiveness of those principles and aims belie a two opposing positions.

On the one hand is the view that the task of the Conservators is the protection of the Malvern Ridge and the major common areas which have a direct physical and ecological relationship with the ridge. This stance sees all other parcels of land as of secondary importance and expendable in the interests of preserving the core area.

The opposing view does not step away from recognising the significance of this area but holds that of expressly equal value are the series of other parcels of land scattered around the area. This view sees these not as secondary to the core area but a part of it, elements of the tapestry of ecology and history which make the Malverns unique.

The Barnard's Green debate is a useful case study which is mirrored in a number of other areas.

The traffic island is not an isolated piece of ground at all. If the map showing the Conservators land is considered it can be seen as part of a continuing whole reaching back to the large grassy area with the oak tree on the corner of Pickersleigh Road and capturing the surrounding verges.

That this is a piece of "urban" landscape seemed to be used as a pejorative term in the meeting. It is self evident that this area is now surrounded by houses and managed differently to the Hills. However, I suggest that this simply makes it a different environment, poorer in terms of ecological diversity and significance but, possibly richer in terms of immediate amenity value.

This area also carries a historical significance which was referred to at the meeting. It marks the core of one of the most ancient communities in the area and is also on the point of transition between the spa related developments of Great Malvern and those older agricultural communities.

Finally, the visual amenity has a significant economic value in providing a human scale environment and focus for the shopping and other commercial activities which surround Barnard's Green and maintain a continuity of use dating back at least to the 17th Century.

Points like these could be made in relation to many smaller areas of Malvern and it seems that there is a need for the Conservators to exercise a debate about these two positions in order to ensure that the thrust of future management decisions is properly understood.

Roger Britton, Pickersleigh Road, Malvern.