SIR: As a result of the coronavirus pandemic three projects affecting Winchester ought to be reassessed.

1. In the Silver Hill (Saxongate) development more attention could be applied to the ratio of retail/residential provision as it is now quite clear that national brands are withdrawing from expensive High Street shops to concentrate more on online sales.

2. Similarly for the Station Approach development which was, I understand, to include a considerable amount of office accommodation, the current exodus from office to working at home is likely to continue, according to many commentators.

3. The strategy for the new hospital seems quite simple to me, not being a health expert. The existing hospitals should continue to offer local services like maternity, A&E and outpatient facilities while the new hospital could concentrate on the more serious and longer term illnesses such as cancer, strokes, heart disease and the like. This hospital should then be built with epidemics in mind so that if this danger arises again it could be securely locked down to prevent people from dying from the epidemic rather than the illness for which they originally had been admitted as has happened at several hospitals this year. Coronavirus is not the only epidemic to have caused a problem in hospitals. Perhaps people have forgotten about MRSA from which a friend of mine died having been admitted for a routine operation.

Reconsideration of points 1 and 2 above might hopefully reduce the pressure on green field sites around the city being eaten up by property developers, and more people living within the existing city could bring more life into the city and also help support existing retail businesses and the hospitality sector. All the above projects could, hopefully, now be developed with the environment and climate change policies as the guiding principles.

David Selby,

West Hill Road North,

South Wonston