To quote Mr Tott, "We used to have very good picnic facilities near the Coastguard Station, on what was before that a putting green, until the railway was allowed to cut across it from corner to corner."

Although I cannot vouch for facilities provided in the dim and distant past, those currently in existence remain very popular.

Something to which as a regular member of the Seaside Railway train crew I can happily testify, as I regularly see groups enjoying family barbecues pause their games of cricket or soft ball, to wave to us every time the train passes by!

As for the railway being, "allowed to cut across it from corner to corner," an observer looking eastwards towards the Coastguard Station from Bound Lane level crossing, would see that far from taking the shortest and easiest route bisecting the site, the line actually takes a highly-circuitous detour - one agreed from the outset with Havant Borough Council, and specifically designed to maximise the available recreational space, while safeguarding rare plants in the central area.

I'm unsure if Mr Tott is suggesting that the railway played any part in the demise of the long-departed putting green, but there was certainly no sign of it having ever existed, when I was part of the volunteer track gang that built the Hayling Seaside Railway back in 2002/3.

I suspect it was one of the the many facilities lost to Hayling, during the 12 years between Havant Borough Council proposing a seafront train as part of a structure plan, and finally granting planning permission.

Other notable casualties from that era include the Hayling Bay and Dilkusha hotels, all of the area's ice cream and drinks kiosks, the New Buccaneer pub, and to use the parlance of the current Masterplan the entire Creek Road "tourism hub."

By contrast within months of the line opening we saw donkey rides return to the sea front for the first time in more than 20 years, closed shops at Eastoke Corner become increasingly few and far between, and more recently Government investment in the form of the Liveability Plaza.

We now also have Tom's Picture Gallery at Bound Lane crossing, and the reopening earlier this year of Gerald Fuller's old kiosk by Chichester Avenue, after an absence of at least two seasons.

The latest proposals for Beachlands are indeed in many ways a "curate's egg" as Mr Tott rightly suggests - one of its less inspiring decisions being the replacement of the Hayling Seaside Railway's proposed extension to link Beachlands and Funland with Sinah Warren and the Hayling Ferry, with a so-called road train.

If this link cannot be performed by a volunteer-built and privately-financed light railway, then surely the planners can do better than replacing it with a cheap-and-cheerful "Noddy" train?

Something that will, in itself, attract no additional visitors to the Island, and be likely to cause traffic chaos every time it takes to the public roads!

Surely a far better option would be a regular minibus service? One which unlike the one unsuccessfully tried out a few years ago, could also serve Hayling's main shopping centres of West Town and Mengham to the benefit of local traders.

Poor signage and lacklustre promotion currently leads many visitors to the seafront, leaving Hayling Island totally unaware that these facilities even exist!

But after so many years crying out for a coherent policy to arrest Hayling's decline, it would be churlish of us to dismiss the Beachlands Masterplan out of hand.

Continuing to do nothing simply isn't an option! As it stands the plan has much to commend it, and the current round of public consultations gives us all the opportunity to make our views known, to ensure the best possible deal for Hayling Island - its residents, its visitors and its businesses!

Ian Edwards
Chairman
Hayling Railway Society