Keep Leamington’s shopping strengths

There is no comparison between the bland shopping malls of Solihull, the urban disaster of Coventry and Leamington’s relaxed and individual shopping streets.

Leamington’s struggling individual shops are what brings shoppers into the town, and with this new development they would, no doubt, be subsidising the overheads of a retail giant with muscle, in order to attract them in. John Lewis has been mentioned, possibly threatening individual home furnishers and others present in the town.

Surely small independents, which give the town its shopping strengths should be subsidised by the retail giants, and this area developed into a low rent start up zone for creative businesses, which would create a new youthful dynamism to match the lively cafe culture in the town. - David Lewis, Leamington.