Letter: Better ways to greet millennium

Sir: I think it is appalling that pounds 580m-plus should even be considered for a temporary Millennium Exhibition seen by a minority of the population (report, 17 January).

This money could be spent providing cultural and leisure facilities in small towns and villages, or used as incentives for small businesses in areas of unemployment. These could be permanent, useful and appreciated memorials to the millennium.

London could be the centre of the celebration with a less expensive project, which has at its heart a permanent reminder of the millennium - much as the Festival Hall is of 1951 - be it a cultural or sports arena or even a hostel for London's homeless.

ELIZABETH TENCH

Amersham, Buckinghamshire