I hope Peter Smith's request for the improvement of Rose Bank Gardens receives a more constructive response than the suggestions of the Residents' Association of Foley Terrace ever has.

We have repeatedly asked for the regeneration of the neglected upper Rose Bank Gardens to restore the original purpose of Foley Terrace as a viewing promenade.

Mary Southall's Description of Malvern of 1822 states that it was paid for by Edward Foley specifically "for the accommodation of visitors whose strength does not permit them to ascend to the higher part of the hills . . . commanding a delightful prospect of the Vale of Severn and Cotswolds".

After Rosebank House and gardens were donated to the local council, neither were properly maintained and the house was demolished. This social irresponsibility still persists.

The rear of the gardens is now a subterranean wilderness with huge self-sown sycamores and chestnuts overhanging Foley Terrace, blocking light to the houses to the frustration of residents and tourists alike.

Three years ago, the residents' association produced a detailed professional design for the restoration of the Foley Walk and upper Rose Bank Gardens. This was greeted with enthusiasm by the district council as worthy of inclusion in the mythical 'Town Plan'.

Since then, despite the availability of central government grants for parks and recreation areas, it too has disappeared from view, like the original prospect of the Severn Vale.

Following our more recent nagging, district council officers were last year instructed to produce a 'maintenance' scheme for the upper Rose Bank Gardens but some moved on, to be replaced by new 'managers' whose unawareness means that past events have to be explained yet again . . . and again.

David Byram-Wigfield, chairman, St Ann's Residents' Association, Foley Terrace, Great Malvern.