WE hope Malvern Hills District Council always planned to hold the "full, open and well-informed debate" on the future of Malvern Theatres which it announced this week.

To be fair, the council has always promised that there would be full public consultation before any decision was taken about the future management of the theatre, but we can't help being just a little cynical about the timing.

Three weeks ago when the Malvern Gazette decided to call its public meeting on Wednesday, July 24, to debate the future of the theatre, the council had still not decided what form its public consultation would take.

Now it has announced a series of public meetings leading up to a full council meeting on September 24.

What we all agree on is that this decision is an important one for the future of Malvern as a whole. We hope the council holds a genuine debate and that its final decision is taken in the best long-term interests of the town.

THANK you to all those people who have been asking. I am delighted to tell you that Jo and I had our first baby, Patrick William (6lb 15.5oz) on Wednesday this week. And much as I love being editor of the Malvern Gazette & Ledbury Reporter, he is definitely the best thing to have happened to me.