The Old Town is fighting back

SIR - Regarding the new plan for Stevenage Old Town, I used to travel with my father in the late 30s to Stevenage. I started work on local transport in the mid 50s and we moved to the new town in 1959 so I know a little about how life has moved on in the old and new towns.

When the new town was going through the planning stage a Mr Franklin assured the old town public that the government had no intention of encroaching or changing the old town and that it would not lose any of its services.

They should have known about politicians, because in a very short time the old town had lost its police station, fire station, bus garage, council offices, court house, railway station and a number of establishments.

Since then the council, or whoever, have tried to knock the old town away a number of times, but it has bounced back always to that much liked vibrant market town with its friendly people and shops which always give good service. Has anyone noticed that we do not get persons shouting out bad language here, unlike the new town.

But, believe me, when I say I think our bosses and planners are at the stage when they can deliver that knockout blow and those of us who believe they can change the council's attitude in any future meetings should think again about politicians past. I would bet that those two car parks have already been earmarked for high rise flats by our property developers and planners and they will most likely look like those obscene buildings they are erecting near the railway lines. All they need is a few iron bars to those small windows to look like a prison, is that what we would like to see erected in the old town?

As for problems in the High Street, that could be solved by making it a one way street with more and not less parking available on a time limit. That however, would be too easy.

I use the old town nearly every day and I never find parking or driving through is a problem.

D T LARKINS