How could Malvern communities support a decision not to encourage young

people to stay in the district?

This first decision should itself have been the product of a much wider form of public consultation than possible at a single public meeting with the Malvern Partnership.

Speaking as a 44-year-old, I ask how many people really do support the development of an aging town, with a population of young people dropping by one per cent a year? By the way, what is the age profile of the Malvern Hills Partnership?

In a national survey published in the Sunday Times recently Malvern was

voted as the second best place to live in England. We must recognise the

assets we have and build for the future. We must employ thorough and

imaginative community consultation processes to enable the voices of all

people to be heard.

Not many of us are regular attenders of public meetings (often too busy with young families!), but there are other ways of getting people on board.

Most of all, consultation needs to be with young people in a form which is relevant to youth culture, for instance there have been some excellent consultation processes recently using text

messaging. There are community and arts organisations in the county - including Worcester Arts Workshop - who, in different ways, are already

experts in engaging the communities which need to be involved.

Surely the issue is not whether Malvern should encourage young people to stay, but how young people are encouraged to stay; how their needs are identified and then met.

This is a crucial regeneration agenda and there are national examples of good practice we can learn from. Can we afford to get this wrong?

Julia Ellis, Lygon Bank, Malvern.