Thinking big

I HAVE found it really frustrating going through the shops trying to find clothes to fit me. I am overweight and find it very annoying that main high street shops do not cater for people who are not “average”.

With 23 per cent of the British population being classed as obese I am certainly not alone in my plight. Retailers need to take this on board when ordering stock and stop presuming everyone is slim, otherwise in the future they are going to lose a lot of trade.

This action by mainstream retailers could almost be seen as weight discrimination. I am sure there are people reading this who wonder why don’t I lose the excess weight and get clothes to fit.

And that would be a fair point, but in the meanwhile why should I have to struggle to find something to wear or have to pay extra by going to independent retailers who offer a service to overweight people?

Gordon Kennedy cent. Many people don’t work in the towns in which they live.

To assume that the historic pattern of centres can be adapted to meet present needs is entirely unrealistic.

Mr Skivington is right that communications technology will lead to vast changes in commerce. However, most retail centres will not disappear, although their share of trade will decline.

Before the advent of supermarkets, most shopping was for food and done in local shops, not town centres.

Most homes had grocers, butchers, bakers, fishmongers, greengrocers and pubs within walking distance.

Since reducing the need to travel and increasing movement on foot and cycle is a key planning aim, providing more facilities nearer to homes and more of these closer to existing services is sensible.

However, in Perth, the council, while saying it wants to regenerate its ailing city centre, has adopted a new development plan which locates most new housing well away from it (and within about 50 minutes’ drive of Glasgow Fort) while placing others over the Tay, some of which are within easy walking reach of the centre, in “green belt” or “conservation areas”.

The rationale for this is not explained.

Mr Black says Mr Munro is following the ideas of the last century. Does he mean by assuming that cars will be the main transport mode?

If he thinks most people will use public transport he is mistaken. Efforts to do this have failed miserably. Car sales are booming. Town centres and their access roads cannot accommodate large volumes of cars without creating many problems.

Mr Black does not want huge amounts of parking, as in Los Angeles. As a non-car owner, I agree. Just what he wants is hard to understand.

Trying to support centres by pushing into town them services which can operate better elsewhere and/or stopping provision of new centres elsewhere is undemocratic and counterproductive.

It will not work. It is like limiting tourist attractions in North Berwick to encourage more people to visit Dunbar.

WalTer marKham