SIR: John Hearn should be ashamed of himself (Chronicle, April 8)!

It is bad enough that you have regular car-hating correspondents writing in from comfortable city centre addresses.

It is bad enough that the county and city councils have used the Covid epidemic as an opportunity to remove traffic from Hyde where I believe some of its members happen to live, to the detriment of many others.

But as an expert “former Major Developments Officer" John Hearn ought to know better! Winchester City's population includes many thousands of families living in outlying communities who depend upon the city centre just as much as those living in walking distance or close enough to have a frequent bus service.

I often need to travel into the city very early in the morning or in the evening or during the day for a brief domestic need and, regrettably, personal transport is the only available method.

It would be a lovely idea to turn the city into a sunlit all-dancing plaza so long as all its citizens are included in the plan: so factor in the cost of providing all of us outlying ratepayers with two-three buses an hour over an 18-hour day, or say, halving our Rates burden so we could afford to frequent Salisbury or Southampton instead.

Erm, which of these is more likely to happen …..?

So, please, please, please, experts and others with great ideas, remember that accessible, affordable, short-term car parking in the city centre will continue to be essential for a big chunk of Winchester's residents.

Do not lock us out!

Charles Hobbs,

Downlands Way,

South Wonston

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SIR: John Hearn’s “Radical Vision for Historic City” – (Chronicle, April 8) – is undoubtedly a commendable objective but seems to overlook the needs of those less mobile. Some people are unable to walk or cycle. Age, arthritis and physical disability affect a significant number of our population so, making Winchester a “Pedestrian’s City” would preclude access to many.

Additionally, not everyone has an hour spare to walk in and back from the suburbs and carrying shopping on a bike could be precarious. That said we do need to reduce traffic in the city and encourage walking and cycling. We all know cycling lanes to be a joke, as most were funded through EU grants and to qualify, the council simply had to claim the money by the length of white lines they had laid down. This explains the absurdity of some lanes which start and abruptly end after a few metres having gone nowhere. The issue for me though, as a walker is the state of repair of our pavements. In France, Belgium or the Netherlands you would never find uneven and broken slabs, bumpy, poorly laid asphalt, or loose kerbstones especially in historic cities such as Dinar, Bruges or Amsterdam. The pavements of Winchester are an embarrassing disgrace for our visitors and dissuade anyone with impaired eyesight or poor balance from venturing out on foot. As a cyclist, I find the road margins, where cyclists have to ride no better. Raised or deeply recessed drain covers, road surface breakup and general debris, make for a hazardous ride. Even poorly maintained verge-side hedges, present injury risk.

So, HCC/WCC why don’t you just get the basics right first instead of spending thousands on headline grabbing, political one-up-man-ship vanity projects, just do what you’re supposed to be doing already but do it properly!

Chris Blackman,

Cheriton Road,

Fulflood,

Winchester