Be in no doubt of what we want

The front page of last week’s paper was of no surprise as I recall that Wilson Bowden indicated that “they would be back” when the Claredon Arcade scheme was turned down in November 2011. Well, now we know what the unhealthy alliance of Warwick District Council and Wilson Bowden have been up to.

They have even gone so far as to back up their new plan by commissioning an “independent” study. Surprise surprise it supports the need for a new arcade in Leamington (In my experience consultants invariably support the major desired outcomes of those who commission their services as to do anything else would be commercially short-sighted).

The section of the report on internet shopping was particularly light of content of any merit and we all know from personal experience that this revolution has had and is having a significant impact of buying behaviour.In light of the proposed new plans for Claredon Arcade I think that all residents of Leamington and the surrounding areas need to take note of the proposal, the unhealthy alliance of the district council with the developers and the fatuous supporting document provided by Strategic Perspectives.

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The body overseeing the whole exercise are our elected representatives and they should be in no doubt as to the wishes of people locally. Those who object to the scheme should be vocal and forceful. They should write to the district council to express any objection with copies to their district councillors. To be apathetic at this time will inevitably result in the shape of the town being irrevocably altered to its detriment. The number of objections in 2011 was quite small and I have no doubt this will be a “benchmark” for the planners when assessing the acceptability or otherwise of the scheme to residents.

Finally, I would have hoped that your paper would have directed people to the correct web address (www.warwickdc.gov.uk) and more specifically to Strategic Perspectives report.

Chris Cox, via email