FELIXSTOWE will soon be the garden resort without flowers.

The story has been one of the most commented upon on this website recently – and most people are pretty upset about the impending loss of our blooms.

From this summer the much-loved and admired, and often rather wonderful, 3D floral sculpture outside the leisure centre will be scrapped, and next year there will be no planting of the town’s flower beds.

All to save money.

One correspondent had a very interesting thought and suggested “an outbreak of guerrilla gardening should be enough to show the meanies in the council that Felixstowe’s flowers are not as easy to cut as they thought!”

I like the idea of guerrilla gardening – it has been quite successful in London, where residents have planted up neglected areas.

It’s all done a bit furtively and is frowned upon by councils – I suspect because of some ridiculous health and safety rules.

Another person wrote: “This is the start of the slippery slope downwards. As has happened in other places left to become tatty, down at heel and unprosperous. Then, years later, to redeem the short-sighted neglect, vast sums have to be spent on ‘regeneration’.”

One writer suggested switching off the decorative lighting on the prom and spending the money on flowers instead as few people are ever on the seafront when the lights are on and far more people enjoy the flowers.

The cuts are going too far – and attacking the most ridiculous activities. Flowers are so important to Felixstowe’s image – and yet cost so little in the grand scale of things.

It would be better to cut one massive service or activity than keep nibbling away at the smaller items.

Suffolk Coastal is a very prudent council, but even so it’s hard to see where it spends �13.8m a year.

Eventually, councils will do little more than collect our council tax – and the council tax will pay for nothing other than the staff who collect it and the building they sit in!