SIR: When I argued that now is not the time to resurrect Silver Hill I felt I should further justify my argument. One of Winchester's selling points is 'one hour to London' but this has lost its importance as many do not have to go up to the city to work anymore; the internet coupled with 'Team' and 'Zoom' have made it unnecessary. Furthermore you don't need an office, just self discipline, a lap top and broadband plus a spare room or table.

The Government's urge to work from home has spawned a whole new life style for a very high proportion of our commuters if the sparsely occupied station car parks anything to go by. Initially confidence and trust in this way of life was low, it was against one's natural instinct but with time it has become the norm with the bonus that one's quality of life has greatly improved. Will these well-paid often powerful professionals readily return to the expense of the 6.48am to London for a stressful twelve hour day, I doubt it.

If you do not need an office why more office blocks; office life has evolved over time with typing pools and data prep disappearing. Call centres have shrunk and there is nothing anyone can do about it, it's progress. This evolution probably would have happened anyway but 'Covid' has accelerated it. With the loss of these 'overheads' national productivity should improve but unfortunately it will be at the cost of higher unemployment.

There is no need to detail the issues surrounding retail as they are already in the spotlight but city centre developments need investment in retail and office space to be viable and it is highly unlikely this will be forthcoming in the foreseeable future hence my argument that we should sit back, relax and take stock. Let's see what the future holds, a possible drop in land and property values could put a different perspective on the area, perhaps it could be more leisure orientated.

Roger Malyn,

Goring Field,

Teg Down,

Winchester