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IronLady2010 wrote:

Linesman wrote:
What an excellent decision.

I am sure that tourists from around the world will now be flocking to Southampton so that they gaze upon the magnificence of this gateway.

I wonder who will have to foot the bill for its maintenance.

The same people who pay for all the pretty flowers to be be planted and watered daily. You don't see people flocking here from all over the world to see the flowers?

You are correct, but the locals who are paying their council tax to pay for the pretty flowers do enjoy them.

The flowers are planted in areas freqented by people, and the flowers are replaced when they finish flowering, they are not preserved beyond their useful life, at great cost.

The flowers have a beneficial effect on those that see them. Something to enjoy. A splash of colour. A thing of beauty.

Flowers provide nectar for bees, often at a time when there are not many wild flowers in bloom. This helps ensure the survival of the bees, who by pollinating many crops, help us with the food-chain.

I wonder how many times you have sat in one of the city's parks and enjoyed the flowers.

My betting is that it is a damned sight more times than you have been down to the dock gate to admire the architecture."