AS I have a gallery directly behind the Claremont House bus shelter I was, of course, very glad to hear that the council have at last agreed to its demolition and replacement (Malvern Gazette, November 3). I am, however, puzzled by a few points in your article:

1. Why has it taken five months since this was first declared 'unsafe' for action to be taken?

2. Why can't the work be completed before next spring, given that future months will surely bring frost and snow?

3. Why is it not a dangerous structure when it is agreed that 'bits of crumbling concrete' might fall from it?

4. Why has the cost risen from £10,000 to £20,000 in five months?

5. Why is it assumed that previous owners of an 1820 listed building decided that they wanted a bush shelter outside to bloc off their garden and view?

6. Why has the contract for its demolition and replacement gone to a Cardiff company, surely many local builders could pull it down and replace it with a low wall and period railings in a very short time and at a lower cost?

This surely is an accident waiting to happen but, as at Hillsborough and Hatfield, decisions and actions seem to be delayed by financial restraints.

IAN FEARNSIDE, Church Street, Malvern.