SIR, – We are fortunate to have such a marvellous facility as Future Gardens provided in our area, with better still to come when the full size butterfly house is built. You have published recent letters likening traffic generation to that of the proposed

SIR, - We are fortunate to have such a marvellous facility as Future Gardens provided in our area, with better still to come when the full size butterfly house is built.

You have published recent letters likening traffic generation to that of the proposed Freight Terminal and complaining about the extent of disabled access.

On traffic, it should be stressed that the figures indicated by Helioslough indicate 63,000 vehicle movements (21,000 lorries and 42,000 cars) per week entering and leaving a freight terminal on to our public roads. This is eight times the anticipated car movements per week at Future Gardens to accommodate 200,000 visitors over four months.

As to disabled access, Future Gardens does not differ from similar facilities, such as the RHS Gardens at Wisley, which are also not totally wheelchair accessible. We have also visited Future Gardens with a wheelchair bound relative. Future Gardens is still under construction and yes, it did prove a little difficult to push the (provided) wheelchair to some places, but overall it was possible to view the vast majority of the exhibited gardens and related walks, together with the butterfly house and the caf� and shop. We had a most enjoyable day out.

We should as a community encourage and support this enterprise, both for its inherent qualities and because of the huge financial gain it affords our local economy. In that respect it does seem odd that a facility as exciting and good for St Albans as Future Gardens has not been afforded much better directional information. Our County/District Councils and Highways Agency can surely do better than to date to assure adequate road signage.

ROGER M. JONES,

Park Street Lane,

St Albans.

SIR, - Not only do Herts Highways remove signs put up by Future Gardens to help visitors find them but Herts Highways hide their own signs behind overhanging trees.

Probably the most important single sign to the gardens is hidden behind a tree and cannot be seen until you are almost past it. This is the sign on the left of the A405 just before the turn into Noke Lane for the Gardens.

In addition, the sign in King Harry Lane southbound just before the mini roundabout is again hidden by overhanging foliage.

This 'hide the sign' attitude in Hertfordshire is in complete contrast to the position in Bedfordshire that I found when I recently visited Woburn.

Here there are plenty of signs, both large and small, to guide the motorist from the M1 to both the Safari Park and Woburn Abbey. There are also large, full-size brown signs at the entrance to each attraction. Why can we not have a full-size brown sign saying 'Future Gardens' at the end of Noke Lane?

ROBERT BOLT,

Forge End,

Chiswell Green.