SIR: Despite the concerns raised in last week’s newspaper (Chronicle, October 14), please can I assure your readers that the walking distance from the Barfield Close bus stop to the new Winchester Sports and Leisure Park is considerably less than the distance from the North Walls bus stop to the former River Park Leisure Centre.

I walked it several times last Friday – tracking the exact route with the “MapMyWalk” app. The distance to the new Sport and Leisure Park from the nearest bus stop is around 200 metres (220 yards) – or around a 2½ minute walk. The distance to River Park from the nearest bus stop is around 310 metres (340 yards) – and takes just over a minute longer.

There are two sets of bus stops in Barfield Close – and the signage hasn’t been clear enough in the past. It’s possible that your reader got off at the wrong one. I have asked Stagecoach to change the message on the Park & Ride bus to announce the Leisure Centre stop and they have promised to do so.

No promises were made – that I can find – about having the bus run to the leisure centre. The previous decision was not to divert buses into the leisure centre because it would lengthen journey times and mean less frequent buses as a result. When we see the results of the four-week free bus trial between the Broadway and the Leisure Centre, we can review whether this needs to be revisited.

Cllr Martin Tod,

Loyd-Lindsay Square,

Weeke,

Winchester