Let people set up home in deserted high streets
sir – The article about the empty high street of Burslem (“The high street haunted by the ghosts of its past”, Features, July 16) had me wondering why commercial and residential properties cannot exist side by side.
After the shops close, the town centre becomes a ghostly place, but if cafés, barber’s shops and libraries stayed open until later and empty shops were turned into housing then the ghost town could become a thriving community.
We are short of housing and all the services are already there. Dorothy Alexander
Stamford, Lincolnshire
SIR – As a first step, abandoned shops shouldn’t be left as eyesores. They can be cleaned up and even made attractive at minimal expense. If the landlord won’t do it, or the local council can’t, remaining tenants would be well served by joining forces to do it themselves.
John Wright
Monaco
SIR – What a coincidence that the article on the sad decline of Stokeon-trent, specifically Burslem, should be followed over the page by a five-star review of a concert by Robbie Williams who, of course, grew up in Burslem.
The Five Towns produced not only the illustrious names of Wedgwood, Spode, Minton, Doulton and Moorcroft, but also people like the Spitfire designer, R J Mitchell, and now the pop legend Robbie Williams.
Anne Cotton
Bath, Somerset