Let’s hope retail projects pay off

I suppose by investing in the new Kingsmead leisure complex [‘Summer 2021’, Gazette, July 30] the city council is hedging its bets.

With shops becoming empty in the centre of Canterbury, the council must worry about its much larger investment in the Whitefriars centre, which will no doubt be adversely affected by this new out-of-town development.

Though the extra housing is welcome with a small number of council houses, the addition of nearly 500 student lets seems surprising, especially as the council has recently bought up some at Parham Court for conversion into council housing, just a short distance further down the Sturry Road!

Of course the problem with all these developments around Canterbury is the lack of infrastructure with the A28, which is severely congested at times, going right past this new development.

There is no mention of any provision for cycle lanes or some form of small non-polluting city transport to carry less active people to these large developments that are springing up all around Canterbury. Perhaps the easing of traffic problems at this time of the Covid-19 crisis has given the council a false impression that the existing roads will cope when things return to normal!

One can just hope the council’s retail property portfolio of £100 million or so will turn out to be a wise use of taxpayers’ money. As Lady Bracknell would have put it: “To have one white elephant may be regarded as a misfortune, to have two looks like carelessness.”

Mike Armstrong Queens Avenue, Canterbury