I have been interested to see the emergence of the Crosfield Hall development plan for Romsey. 

Firstly, it seems to me that for various reasons – Covid effect on trade and the increase in internet shopping, closure of the Mountbatten care home, high inflation etc, the basic ideas behind the scheme need to be carefully reviewed. The retail trade in the main centre of the town is clearly struggling and at present, building more retail shops will be very unhelpful. 

Secondly, there is a total absence of any financial assessment of the requirements and benefits of these proposals, and who will be finding the money and hoping to make a profit from it. Central to it appears to be the relocation of Aldi. Is it absolutely necessary to construct a new Aldi building? 

Thirdly, a major objective appears to be to increase the car parking available in this area of the town, hence the removal of our characterful and useful Crosfield Hall. It is not clear from the plan whether in fact overall there will be an increase in car parking. If more parking is needed, why not step in to the disaster area that was the Mountbatten care home and use this land for the purpose of constructing a two-storey car park? This would avoid the destruction of the Crosfield Hall and the problems that will result from re-locating it to the Rapids area, a move that is clearly very unwelcome to many who live in the town.

Moreover, this would be a better use of the care home land than to construct a block of expensive retirement flats which will not have the care facilities previously available. 

Fourthly, the plan envisages another change to the bus station. I do not understand why this is necessary. The present arrangement works well and is more than adequate for the services required.

Indeed it is possibly too much facility with the falling off of use that is currently being experienced. 

Overall, I am of the view that this plan is unnecessary and will not improve our town (where I was born in 1936). Moreover, the construction works will almost certainly result in disruption and problems of traffic and inconvenience for a number of years. I do not think Romsey needs this sort of project work; it is liable to drive trade away which may well not return. The idea of removing the Crosfield Hall I think is a serious miscalculation of what we need and what we enjoy. Having to go to the Rapids area to get these facilities is not a welcome idea.

Alec Fry,
Love Lane, 
Romsey

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