Attracting visitors is key to town’s future
I READ with interest the headline article in the Nuneaton Telegraph (Dec 2) regarding a survey on the future of Nuneaton town centre. Being unaware of the survey, I would like to add my comments on the article. The town centre needs to be more attractive to visitors and that certainly means better quality shops, transport routes and parking. The Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Plan proposes up to 15,223 new homes in the period up to 2031. This massive expansion of the population should be used to fuel improvements the town centre so desperately needs: Better shops. A new Marks and Spencer or similar headline store(s) Better car parking. NBBC has sold off Church Street car park and some of the parking area behind the council house will go when this becomes flats. We need more town centre parking, not less. Sort out the traffic congestion. Make the bus station more attractive. True, the shelters have been painted, but has no one thought to clean the ‘transparent’ roofs? The suggestion of opening up some of the pedestrianised area to traffic will reduce people’s desire to go to Abbey Street, Abbeygate and the other areas that would now have traffic. Keep the centre traffic-free. The market is a great success but why not move it into Abbey Street on alternate weeks? Coffee shops seem to be on the rise. Perhaps get one in Abbey Street to encourage footfall. We have the Coventry Canal passing through the town but nothing is done to encourage boaters to visit the town and spend their cash. Make sure visitor moorings are kept neat and tidy but do not block the winding hole (turning point) by Cock and Bear bridge. Just look at Atherstone where boaters are encouraged to stay a while.
Make more of our history – George Eliot being the obvious example.
Historic buildings – encourage people to look up above the shop facades. More ‘history interpretation boards’, perhaps like the one outside Lloyds Bank.
More events like the Mary Ann Evans Hospice Transport Event that brought all of the town centre to life.
I trust that this will be food for thought for the future beyond the May 2018 local elections. Allen Gilbey Nuneaton
Supply homes that help rebuild lives
CITIZENS of Coventry are likely to be charged an extra 4.9 per cent council tax next year while student accommodation increases and the number of homeless grows.
I accept that students require somewhere to live while they study but this indirectly causes the other two problems to increase.
National legislation does not require students or their landlords to pay council tax. The government is expected to reimburse local authorities for this loss of income but I understand there is cap on this amount. Students make good use of all of the facilities provided by the council but any increased income they generate goes to local shops, pubs, fast food outlets and of course the developers and landlords who supply their accommodation. Any rise in taxation from this increase in business goes to the government.
If some of this accommodation was provided for the homeless, their state benefits would pay council tax to the local authorities. If you do not have a permanent address and bank account, it is impossible to obtain employment. Many recent developments would be ideal for single occupation allowing people to rebuild their lives. Perhaps any new student accommodation should be required to provide a percentage for local people? This has been done in the past with rural developments.
I am aware that this will never happen without some form of government or local authority intervention. There is potentially far more money to be made from letting to students on short-term leases than there is providing accommodation for those in genuine need. We continually read headlines about the success of the booming university towns and cities but I have yet to read of anywhere proudly claiming they have eradicated homelessness. Bill Sutton Chapelfields
No state visit after Trump’s retweets
I DON’T normally have a lot of time for Theresa May, but full marks to her for calling out the disgusting Donald Trump over his loathsome racist retweets.
Contempt for this odious clown cuts right across the Brexit/Remain divide. The offer of a state visit should be withdrawn immediately. Mike Wright Nuneaton