THE proposal of cutting down the trees that line Aynam Road in preparation of a flood defence is wrong.

Walking down the road with the blossom out on the trees, the daffodils and blue bells along the side and watching the swans and other bird life on the river is all part of the charm and what makes this part of the river so picturesque. It has been like this for generations.

My parents have lived on Aynam Road for 50 years. As a child I remember a couple of times when the cellar got flooded by a few inches which Dad always said was because there was a blockage somewhere in the drains.

Nothing in living memory has happened like the floods we had in December of 2015 because of Storm Desmond and no one can predict whether it will ever happen again. It may not or it could happen this winter. No one knows.

My question is, why is it after more than three years, do we still have bridges out of action because of the storm and it's only now that proposals for storm defences are being put into place and is cutting down these trees that have lined Aynam Road for years really the answer?

Where is all this money coming from to build this thing? Surely repairing the damaged bridges - for example, New Road footbridge, Burneside Bridge etc - and getting them reopened again should be a priority before spending more money and why after more than three years has this not all be sorted before now? Why is it taking so long?

We are all in the 21st Century after all.

Ruth Southall

Kendal