Planners should have rebuilt as Dresden did

I RECENTLY read in Citivision how pleased councillors are with the city’s progress regarding their City of Culture bid.

I talk to ordinary people in various places and get a totally different response.

Currently the city has become a student boom and that is great – I love to see the life and bounce they bring. The problem is that the town planning has not respected the city centre and it has allowed the building of tower block after tower block and any other empty building to accommodate students.

In the Motor Museum it asks the question, should the city planners have rebuilt the city in its pre-war style, or go for the modernist approach? Unlike Dresden – Coventry’s twin city that was equally devastated but was rebuilt in its original style. Having seen this city’s recent results I think many would have chosen the Dresden way.

Recent so-called planning progress has seen Cathedral Lanes and the Canopy blocking out what’s left of the old medieval past, the demolition of the old Coventry Theatre and the Smithfield pub and the now imminent closure of the Olympic size swimming pool. For a so-called city of culture, it looks a bit ominous.

To add to this we have seen Coventry’s spiritual home at Highfield Road become a housing complex and the new ground banished to the suburbs, with all of its associated problems.

We are now being told that the escalator in The Precinct is to be removed with the idea of being able to see the cathedral’s spire. The question to be asked is – why was it built? This question can be applied to most of the council’s plans.

Many people who have visited me in the city cannot understand the wings by the Motor Museum, calling them ugly and hideous.

Ironically, in my opinion the one area which has not been ripped apart or rebuilt is the Lower Precinct, only being refurbished, and keeping its character which looks and feels pleasing.

Finally, I would like to say and for people to consider how can Coventry become the City of Culture when it has never been given the chance for that culture to develop and grow? Because all we get is knock down and rebuild, time and time again. Kevin Morris Coundon

Finding new ways to protect libraries

IN response to Bob Bannister’s letter (Nov 20). People will be well aware Coventry City Council is under significant financial pressure and as such we have taken the decision to work in several localities with organisations who are re-thinking the roles libraries can play in their communities. This has meant that none of our 17 city libraries has been closed.

We have provided buddy-libraries to these new groups and have guaranteed we will regularly refresh book stock in these libraries. Whilst we can no longer fund printed newspapers and magazines in all libraries, our digital offer, including provision of e-books and e-magazines and newspapers, means these are still accessible via the free-to-use computers available in each library.

The organisations operating in community libraries are considering new ways these buildings can be used and are developing business plans which generate new income streams from room hire, events and a range of other activities, whilst maintaining access to library resources.

The council has covered all building running costs for the first year with a commitment to a discussion regarding the second year. This provides time for the new organisations to get themselves fully up and running. By the time we ask them to pay running costs for the buildings, we hope that the new community-run libraries will be proving successful and will have become popular local hubs which generate enough income to sustain themselves along the lines of the business cases they have prepared. Councillor Kevin Maton Coventry City Council’s cabinet member for education and skills

How Belgrade can sell more tickets

RECENT reports tell us that the Belgrade Theatre has set records for their highest ever audience numbers during the last financial year, with more than 176,000 tickets sold for over 300 performances.

This equals an audience of 350 people per show.

The Belgrade Theatre capacity is about one thousand, so perhaps they should identify the most popular types of shows and repeat them to improve their ticket sales. Fred Foster Radford