And this in a time when mortgages are going to get more difficult and expensive to obtain, due to the credit crunch!

It might work in Milton Keynes, where London rates of pay are universal and the facilities provided are light years beyond that enjoyed by Northamptonians, in the first place.

It's the Government that wants this town to expand, so they should pay for the infrastructure and social housing that goes with it, not the private house buyer.
John Wright, Port Road, Northampton

Do planners ever visit our town?
WNDC have done it again, after the needle the guided bus. Don't these highly paid planners ever travel into Northampton and experience the traffic congestion?

We now have at least five sites of such severe atmospheric pollution that they constitute a health risk. WNDC priority must be to get traffic moving, but no, the Gas Street solution is more traffic lights. Who's monitoring pollution?

WNDC is one of Prescott's non-departmental public bodies which means it pays a lot of money and provides a final salary pension scheme to experts, 21 of them trousering around £1m in 2006/7 who then go on to spend another £437,000 on consultants, to reheat worn out ideas.

There are no less than 13 board members to oversee this miserable output, direct costs for the whole group amount to £2.5m. All the financials are on the WNDC website.

I applaud forcing developers to stump up for infrastructure costs, why did it take so long?

So come on WNDC, join the rest of us in the 21st century and fix congestion in the town centre, all it needs is a one way inner ring road which at a stroke would double road space, speed up traffic and remove the need for so many traffic lights. This is not rocket science.

Consider this an open letter, I'll send you a marked up street map and you can let us all know how long it will take to implement.
A D Lake, Belvedere Close, Northampton

Shoppers should try buying local
As far as I can see, the main difference from the thriving town centre that was Northampton in the '60s, '70s and '80s was the fact that everyone went there to spend their money.

Now I can confidently assume the vast majority of people pick up the local paper from the petrol station when they fill up in the morning. They buy their milk from Tesco instead of from the milkman. Their fruit and veg is bought in a weekly big shop, whereas before they went to the greengrocers or the market.

People are buying the same things, but from the one-stop-shop supermarkets.

We can get free parking, a great big trolley, aisles and aisles of stuff all under one roof and meet our neighbours, family, friends and colleagues while they go round the same shop doing the same thing once a week on a Saturday or Sunday.

It's our own fault that the town centre has declined. We aren't going there any more to buy the basics. We are going to Tesco or Morrisons or Sainsbury's to get a CD or a pair of socks or a school uniform.

That is the reason why there are shops closing left, right and centre.

We can blame the council for the parking fiasco and it's true, it's a mess, but it's also a cop out. We can blame him or her or them for the Grosvenor Centre but, let's face it, if the people were spending money in the place they would have done it years ago.

If we stop spending every pound we have in the supermarkets and spent it instead in the local corner shop or went to Fitzy's stall on the market, even just for a week, it would give the people who already run those independent shops a bit more incentive to perhaps open another one, maybe in Abington Street or Peacock Place.
Anita Loveland, Brookland Road, Northampton

See sense over parking permits
I am pleased our County Councillors have at last taken control of the debacle over the increase in on-street parking charges and the cost of parking permits.

I hope that our County Councillors will not only see sense and significantly reduce the proposed increases, if not abandon them altogether, but revoke the powers of council officers to make such ridiculous proposals. We elect our County Councillors to decide such issues and they are answerable to us through the ballot box. We vest our trust in our councillors, not faceless bureaucrats who are totally unaccountable, and who probably don't even live in the county.

People living in residents' parking areas where they have to pay to park in their road have suffered enough by way of increases in charges for parking permits over the past few years in return for very little, especially night time enforcement. I would suggest that enough is enough.

Similarly, we are all aware of the decline of our town centre. Northampton Borough Council has seen sense and has not imposed any increase in parking charges this year. There is all party agreement at the Borough that our town centre, its regeneration and improvement, as well as its vibrancy and sustained success, are a priority. It's a shame the County Council can't sign up to this priority and freeze on-street parking charges for a few years.

Also, with regard to parking charges, Northampton Borough Council consulted with the public on its budget proposals for this new financial year. There were proposals within the budget at that time to increase car parking charges. Whilst there was a poor response to this consultation exercise, one thing to come out of it was that there was significant opposition to any increase in parking charges. At least Northampton Borough Council consulted, and in fact listened to the outcome of that consultation. What consultation has our County Council undertaken on this issue and why can't it pay heed to that undertaken by the Borough?

I only hope that our County Councillors will now come to their senses and take control over the situation with regard to the changes in the road pattern at Black Lion Hill, Marefair and Gold Street.

The implications of this change in road pattern are significant for taxis and their users who will have to pay much more for their extended journeys.

It is often the less well off, particularly the elderly, disabled, and those working unsociable hours in low paid jobs who have no option but to travel by taxi. Come on County Councillors, get a grip and do what's right for Northampton.
Councillor Phil Larratt, Northampton Borough Council

Cafe society in Market Square
What if John Lewis took over the Grosvenor Centre? House of Fraser could have Peacock Place. Gap could move into the old HSBC on Woodhill. Sainsburys could have the bus station and the buses could move to Rat Island opposite the Chron.

The Market Square lends itself to a cafe society, with chairs and tables outside. The only reason I need to go to Milton Keynes would be Ikea and Habitat. What do you think?
Diane Carter (By email)

Thanks for swift action on pathOpen letter to Richard Hall, rights of way manager, Northamptonshire County Council:
I am writing to thank you and your staff, particularly Mr Cosford, for the swift way in which the problem with dumped earth on a pathway off Hunsbarrow Road has been dealt with.
The open letter to the Chronicle & Echo had been sent at the same time as my letter to NCC, and the problem was being dealt with before the letter was published.
The pathway has been returned to the original width of access and is no longer a problem to the visually impaired, mums with buggies and wheelchair users, and ends six months of hassle.
Marion Minney, Irondale Close, Northampton

Readers helped to pinpoint site
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who contacted me following my appeal for help in locating the American Hadrian Glider which crashed at Tiffield in 1944.
The response was truly remarkable and the assistance tendered priceless.
Thanks to the readers of the Chronicle & Echo we have actually pinpointed the exact location of the crash.
In June of this year, the niece of the pilot will be visiting from the USA and her wish was to visit the crash site to pay her respects; this has only been made possible thanks to your readers.
My research into this tragic flying accident has highlighted one major problem and that is that, unless we trace and interview the witnesses to these incidents soon, all the relevant firsthand information and locations will be lost to us forever. It is really vital that we record these incidents, not only for their historic merit, but to also keep alive the memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice for our freedom.
I would be more than delighted to hear from anyone with further information on any such incidents. Many thanks.
Robert Allen, Twinwood Aviation Museum, Tabby's Rest, 25 Chaucer Street,
Kingsley, Northampton, NN2 7HW