I quite agree with your correspondent Maurice Wilkins, who wrote in The Oban Times (Letters, August 2).
I, too, was shocked when I saw the plastic grass in the Oban retail park and all the shrubs dug up. Given the proximity of Homebase, which sells garden supplies and plants, could the land surrounding the stores not be used to showcase its shrubs and plants? It would be good advertising for Homebase as well as enhancing the shopping experience for everyone.
Another thing to consider is that Lochavullin tends to food in the winter months. The old system of real grass and shrubs were useful run off points for the water to drain.