Letters: November 17, 2016

Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters.

Act to save our shops

IT IS with a great deal of distress that I walk down Regent Street these days. So many shops are now shut that I have stopped counting them.

I know some of the people that work for In Swindon BID company and I know they are doing their best to solve this problem but putting a few pictures up in the windows of empty shops will not get us a new High Street.

I wrote in this paper on January 27, 2012 that we needed a completely new approach to the problem and the expansion of the internet would only make matters worse.

Even I did not see the rise of the internet as fast as it came over the last four years, and that has been born out even more with the list of shops now going to the wall, Marks & Spencers looks like being the next one to go, and the market looks as if it’s finished.

So now we have to face the facts, either we sit down with the council and solve this problem or we sit back and watch our town centre die a slow death.

Here are some of the steps we need to take. One, stop pretending that this is a passing fad and the shops will come back, they will not.

Two, stop pricing the shops that are still there out of existence.

Three, fill up the shops in Regent Street with those in other Streets like Commercial Road, Victoria Hill, Faringdon Road, etc and turn those streets back into housing again, help financially with the moving costs of these shops, they will want to move when they see the footfall outside their shops double or treble.

Get a different type of business into the town Center above many of the shops in the Brunel Centre: Doctors, funeral directors, vets, dentists, the list is endless if you get the price right and that will bring the footfall up again.

As for the market, every town needs one. I was in Abergavenny a few weeks ago and their market is staggering, there must have been 300 stalls and they have it twice a week.

Take over one of the large shops that are empty and turn it into a walk through arcade with tiny little shops that can be priced so low that anyone can afford to open a bespoke shop - hairdressers, Collectors Corner, florists, bakers, arts and crafts, printers, etc, again the list is endless but the price must be right and that is where the council needs to step in.

It has a responsibility to the ratepayers to give us a town centre to be proud of, let’s make them do it.

They could start by bringing some of their own business back into the town center, move the Births, Deaths, and Marriages into the Brunel and hundreds of people every month will have to go there.

Open the Jobs Centre in one of the closed pubs in Fleet Street and hold council committee meetings above one of the shops like Wilkinsons - those offices have been empty now for years and years.

Finally, start to fine companies by doubling or even trebling the rates on premises that stand empty for more than six months, this would force them to drop their prices or they would go out of business themselves.

We need bold answers to big questions, so come on Swindon lets show the country that there is a light at the end of the High Street and it could be shining brightly if we take the necessary steps now before its to late.

R CARTWRIGHT

Pinnegar Way, Swindon

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We like town centre

RE Kelly Collins’ letter in the Adver. Leave our town alone, we don’t want houses in the middle the high street.

It’s okay for people with cars to go out of town, the outlet shops are mostly designer and we cannot afford to shop there.

How about all the empty office blocks? Make them into flats and look after our own people first. We happen to like the town centre.

MRS P CARTER

Harbour Court, Swindon

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Blend old and new

I WAS pleased to read recently that there are at last some signs of movement on the proposed refurbishment of the Locarno - and the reassuring statement by Steve Rosier “People in Swindon are so incredibly passionate about protecting these historic buildings, we are looking to harness their passion.”

It therefore came as a shock on opening the following day’s Advertiser (November 9) to see the artist’s impression of the new development.

I am as anxious as anyone to see the present eyesore eradicated but not at the price of its demolition and rebuilding in the modern idiom.

Restoration should mean just that. With regard to the remainder of the project, surely there is someone who can design something that will be sympathetic to Old Town and its existing buildings, such as was evident when the Pinnacle was built, on the site of Horders Shop and the rebuild of Smiths the butchers which links seamlessly with the adjoining building.

There has to be an element of blending the old with the new. This development will be almost as much of an eyesore as the present derelict structure, which at least blends architecturally with its neighbours.

I understand that this development is based on the plans approved in 2013 but, as I recall, these plans included the restoration of the tower, complete with clock, Why was this vital factor ignored in the latest plans?

RAY MORSE

Swindon

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Storm in a teacup

HAVING read the correspondence between Ofsted and SBC and considered the responses from a number of headteachers, I cannot help but think the fuss can best be summed up in the title of an offering from William Shakespeare - it all appears to be ‘much ado about nothing.’

I certainly do not suggest a child’s education is something to be treated lightly, but the more I read Mr Simmons’ letter the more I see his emphasis is on challenging the failure of systems and processes, what Mike Welsh refers to as ‘bugs’ and ‘structural change.’

I can certainly understand Mr Simmons’ view that SBC might have been “frankly, defensive in its response” as many who deal with the council will recognise this as their default position to any challenge.

I was surprised Mike Welsh, as a headteacher seeks to use an emotional hook to suggest something which actually was never implied or alluded to in Mr Simmons’ letter; just where in his letter does Mr Simmons “Run our children down”? The phrase makes a good headline but it does not reflect what Mr Simmons said.

Any failure in academic performance is clearly addressed in Mr Simmons’ final paragraph and is directed not at children but at “all involved in leading and supporting these schools.”

He goes on to identify “headteachers, chief executives of multi-academy trusts, senior political leaders, governors, local authority officers and the regional schools commissioner” as being the people who must “ensure that pupils in Swindon have better outcomes and the skills and qualifications to improve their employment prospects.”

I appreciate Mr Welsh and his colleagues might not like the message and would prefer to ‘shoot the messenger’ - after all who does like being criticised?

However, to suggest, as Coun Renard does in his comment that Mr Simmons’ letter has “angered a lot of people who are working very hard to improve standards” is what we would expect from a politician for whom the greatest skill is sitting on the fence.

Finally, I suppose it was only to be expected that Coun Carol Shelley would demean herself and her Party by making the issue Party political.

Despite making some good points it would appear that Coun Shelley is unaware Swindon suffered from poor funding during the so-called ‘boom’ years of 13 years of a Labour Government under Mr Blair.

DES MORGAN

Caraway Drive, Swindon

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Teachers are bullied

WITH reference to the open letter written by Bradley Simmons, I really think the Secretary of State for Education should look at his tenure as Ofsted leader for the south west.

The letter reminds me of everything that we are trying to stop in schools, ie: Bullying and cowardice.

When interviewed on television he was condescending to all teachers, the very ones he castigated in his letter.

As a parent of three teachers I know how much time and effort, including evenings and weekends, they put in marking and preparing lessons.

Every year the Government issues new directives and teachers have to implement them before Ofsted make their visit, sometimes early in the term.

As for discipline parents should take the responsibility of teaching their children right from wrong and not leave it to the schools.

JH OLIVER

Brooklands Ave, Swindon

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Schools are failing

IN REFERENCE to your article ‘We are not failing pupils’ (Swindon Advertiser 15/11/16) I note that headteachers and councillors are rallying behind whatever statistics they can find to deny any culpability.

As a lecturer at a local college, I am amazed at the number of Level 3 students who can’t perform simple maths, spell, structure a sentence let alone punctuate it, or understand concepts such as areas, volumes or density.

If that is not a sign of a failing in the responsibility of schools in Swindon, would someone please tell me what is?

RUSSELL GAME

Wiltshire