FURTHER to the letter ("Glaring example of wasting cash", April 8) regarding council money wastage, I have two more items that could possibly save hundreds of pounds too.

We have the magazine NG5 and the Arrow delivered regularly by the Royal Mail. Would it not be more economical to have these distributed to points around the city to be picked up by the individual as required? Surely, with the cost of postage rising so dramatically it would constitute a massive saving, too.

MR A D GISBORNE

Tettenbury Road

Basford

I AM writing to you regarding a play called Our Style Is Legendary. You may or may not know at this stage that there is a show which has just been on at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London which is set in Nottingham in the 1980s and 1990s. It is a true story written by Daniel Hoffmann Gill.

You can find more information online and also on our facebook page "Help bring Our Style Is Legendary to Nottingham".

I was one of the actors. I played the only female character, "Shelley". I am originally from Derbyshire and I went to university in Nottingham and I also represented Nottingham in Miss Universe UK back in 2008 before moving to London in 2009. I did a course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in Contemporary Drama and have worked on a few TV commercials and films and this play was my first part on stage.

All about Nottingham here in the west end of London. Great!

And to make it even better everybody loved it – we had great reviews in Time Out, the Guardian, The Stage, Whatsonstage.com and many more it really has been splendid.

I just think it needs as much notice as possible so we can bring the show to Nottingham.

We need funding and any ideas of fundraising and just general support because I know, being a fellow East Midlander myself, people really are going to love this show and what has been lovely and very interesting is that people who perhaps do not usually go to the theatre are getting excited and really getting stuck in and coming to watch as it speaks out to such a wide variety of people and really hits home.

Anyway, being one of the actors and having loved the play and being in it, there is nothing I think that could be more wonderful than performing back in Nottingham.

ANNISHIA LUNETTE

Glentham Gardens

Barnes

IT is extremely sad to hear that a rare black swan has died after being shot with an air gun in a horrific attack in Arnot Hill Park.

It is clear that swans are not safe on this stretch of water – a black swan cygnet was killed in 2008 when stones and life buoys were thrown at him. In light of this, and the killing of 30 swans in Somerset earlier this year, Animal Aid urges the council not to bring in any more swans to the park. Animals are not decorative objects to serve as entertainment to the passing public. To introduce them into an environment where they are not safe is both irresponsible and cruel.

ASHLEY OWEN

Animal Aid

The Old Chapel

Bradford Street

Tonbridge

THANK you for your reply, RL Cooper ("Gates are open to barbarism", April 9).

I would prefer that my pen be found not wanting in edge rather than any weapon of violence.

Less of the "old"! However, "gentleman" – I would like to think so. Age either brings memories and wisdom or firmly entrenched negativity. I'm still trying to work out where I am at!

As your letter is written in the spirit of dialectic rather than aggressive dispute, I find it refreshing.

The problem of equating human behaviour with that of animal can invoke either admiration or disgust so to be blithely non-judgmental leaves it dangerously open to the individual reader as to what conclusions are drawn based on their own prejudices.

Your letter quite perfectly points to the less savoury aspects of the human condition but again you appear to use facts in a limited fashion.

Regarding the degradation of the cities and slums of the Industrial Revolution, Nottingham had indeed slums, especially Narrow Marsh, that equalled the very worst on the Indian sub-Continent.

However, you fall short by staying in the 19th century. It was realised by concerned and enlightened men that something had to be done and so it was. This was a triumph over the beast in man.

You mention evolution. Evolution merely allows the strong and cunning to gain a position of ascendancy. Simply put, the triumph of the beast.

Certain pathways taken by the human race out of greed, ambition, lust and vanity would quickly lead to anarchy and complete barbarism.

You might say that evolution produced the complex brain and creative abilities of Man. However the evolutionary process uses this too freely to destroy those that are perceived as weak or unworthy.

Also the human thought process can so easily fool itself into excusing its grosser traits as unavoidable due to our animal status.

I agree with what you say, RL, regarding the barbaric story of human history and its continuing existence.

I am convinced that men enjoy killing each other in a way that no animal, except perhaps for members of the cat family, would ever do.

Finally, we should turn our backs on and shed the baggage of that terrible philosophy of survival of the fittest and do all in our powers to apply enlightened and philanthropic values, that are the mark of the spirit of Man, to close the gates of barbarism.

ANTHONY O WILKINSON

Clifton Road

Ruddington

IN response to J Miller's letter ("Confusion over what majority is", April 11) regarding why he thinks we should change our way of voting by adopting the AV (alternative vote), I was always led to believe it was always one person one vote. Now it seems he wants me to have, depending on how many candidates there are in one given area, as many as five or six votes? Or minimum of one vote?

I am of above average brain power and that sounds confusing for me so imagine what it would be like for some elderly people? I am 61.

And even the electoral commission could not describe or explain the way AV works without it containing hundreds of words unlike our present system.

How much will it cost for this not-needed referendum? Hundreds of millions of pounds? What a waste of much-needed money in our present climate/

Is it only the Lib Dems who wants this AV? Is it their supporters who write letters of support? After all their support is low at present.

I am a firm believer in the first past the post system unlike AV where the candidate who finishes second or third wins. Is this fair? No.

In my book, two or three etc is higher than one. So if I was to put the higher number than one next to a candidate's name I would be giving that person a higher number of votes. This cannot be right.

In my book one person man or woman, one vote, first past the post, and all this garbage of it will make your elected candidates more accountable? Frankly I do not see this. If it isn't broken, there is no need to fix it.

Our system has worked well over hundreds of years, and I see no reason to change it. So I will vote NO to AV on May 5.

C ENGLAND

Briar Court

The Meadows

THE alternative voting system (AV), now being hawked about the country, is filling many voters with a mixture of uncertainty, perturbation and dread.

Credible parliamentary candidates would be replaced by a pick and mix concoction of opportunists, cranks, corporate creeps and political mischief makers of every possible kind who will identify a commercial opportunity to feed off the public purse.

AV will be a con artist paradise, disproportionately benefiting tiny parties out of all proportion to their numbers.

Britain would face interminable and irremovable coalitions and voter apathy, fuelled by bemused incomprehension, would rise exponentially as citizens vote with their feet – away from the ballot box.

Indeed, the voting system could collapse altogether with less than 50 per cent voting at all!

Certainly, many will be confused by the relentless assortment of dubious candidates competing for a place at the public trough. This is the stuff of a Boulting farce.

Only interested parties and social engineers gone berserk would devise such wacky proposals, but how the leader of the British Labour Party can give support is beyond me. Turkeys voting for Christmas springs to mind.

Unsurprisingly, the TV debate agreed by both Brown and Cameron produced the present coalition in the first place! It's almost unbelievable.

Perhaps limiting the time scale for MPs to two terms might incentivise Parliament to more sensible proposals and improved performance. A job for life is not sustainable. In this area something does need to be done. A ten-year term is reasonable.

Our present system is used by half the world and AV by only three countries – Australia, Fiji and Papua, New Guinea. It has served us well for generations and will be replaced at our peril. Vote no to AV!

DANIEL FARRINGTON

Poplar Avenue

Sandiacre

IF Labour spent money that we did not have, as claimed by A J Askew ("No hiding from Labour's mess", April 7), can he explain why the UK's national debt fell from 43 per cent of GDP to 37 per cent of GDP between 1997, and the end of 2008? In case it needs repeating the UK's national debt fell (went down) during almost all of Labour's period of Government. It rose during the banking crisis, as did the debt of every other leading industrial nation; even so we still have one of the lowest debts in the industrialised world. Labour was able to REDUCE the UK's national debt because we had 11 years of steady economic growth, and rising employment levels – this meant higher tax revenues. The recession reduced output, increased unemployment and thus tax receipts fell by £39.5 billion in 2009. What the economy needs is policies for growth to reduce the debt – instead we are stagnating.

ERIC GOODYER

High Street

Colsterworth