DEMOCRACY, there it goes look, straight out the window, quickly followed by common sense.

I'm not sure if cllr's Kate Wheller and Ray Bryan have walked down by the harbour in the last four weeks. Ever since Boris allowed people to drive where they liked, the coast has been an obvious choice.

I also recall he suggested that people would have to be sensible. Well we saw an example of that at Durdle Door and Bournemouth Beach. Social distancing went out of that same window. Which is exactly what has been happening in Weymouth since that date.

At first people brought their own drink to sit on the harbour wall. Then the pubs soon realised they were missing an opportunity so they (some) opened for take away beer etc. Either way, people were knee to knee around the harbour wall, on both sides of the harbour.

So what a good excuse to use "social distancing" as a way to close off vehicular access to the heart of Weymouth. We do not live on the continent, I'm afraid the drinking culture in this country is very much our own. The Spanish bars hate us but love us for the money we spend. I have had a late night drink in many countries in Europe and even further afield and have never seen the type of behaviour that the good old boozed up Brits manage to display.

In the past few weeks we have seen just how low our society has sunk, with people urinating and defecating in public areas. Ask the people of Lulworth who have had this experience in their own gardens as well. If you do not believe this then you are living in a bubble.

There are many improvements that could be considered for the harbourside but closing it off should be the last one. Whatever is to be considered it should be in consultation with the people who live there and the fishermen who work there.

Your feature states that consideration has been looked at for business' and residents. I am not aware of any discussion with the residents and as the majority of business' are pubs, they are hardly going to say no, are they.

Dorset Council and Weymouth Town Council have agreed to this "temporary" closure without any input form the very people who live here.

Cllr Bryan states, "that large social gatherings are still not permitted". If you go ahead with this you will see just how large, a social gathering can be.

John Liles

Preston

Weymouth