THANK you for the discussion in last week's Journal about the deer in the cemetery and crematorium.

As reported, the city council services committee did debate the problem and possible solutions. Unfortunately the public gallery emptied long before we finished our consideration of the solutions.

As both areas are within my ward, I volunteered to photograph the boundaries of both sites so that the committee could see the boundaries and associated issues - it was an eye opening experience.

What I had not expected was to see at least three deer in the middle of the afternoon, including the one in the attached photograph, which seemed to believe that if it froze I could not see it.

There is clearly no easy solution; the services committee will be deliberating again in September when we will have more information available.

Colin Froude

Salisbury City councillor

St Mark’s & Bishopdown

THE article about deer in London Road cemetery reminded me how devastated I was when, two years ago, I found all the flowers from the wreathes on my husband’s grave had been destroyed two days after he had been laid to rest there.

It is surely the duty of a responsible landowner to regulate the wildlife and to maintain the trees, hedges and fences in good order.

Does the council need to be reminded, in addition to these considerations, that the deer causing a nuisance are not a native species and the cemetery is not a park, let alone a wildlife sanctuary.

Margaret Reese Salisbury n THE problem with deer eating commemorative flowers and roses could be alleviated by using unpalatable plants. There is a list of suitable plants on the Deer Society website including lavender, iris, primula and poppy. There is also a larger list of plants that deer would be unlikely to eat if other wild plants, especially brambles, were left to grow as alternative forage.

Would it be too expensive for the council to offer to replace deer damaged plants with lavender, iris or other unpalatable ones?

Penny Theobald

Salisbury