Both dress it up in terms of new street furniture and a shrinking down of the market onto ever smaller sites to create ever more "entertainment space".

Together with officer time that is nearly £250,000 of wasted money.

The Tories under Tim Hadland gave us the "market triangle" and plans for a suspended glass roof designed by no other than Wolfgang Buttress (he of WNDC needle fame).

More recently Tony Woods and his Lib Dems in their manifesto took us from the ceiling to the floor by insisting that the market would be revived by a resurfacing of the square!

They now propose yet another shrinking down of stalls and a move for the market away from Abington Street and up to the Grosvenor Centre entrance.

In addition we will spend over £1m on more strangely-shaped seats and shelters for the inebriated to sleep on and a big screen (in Councillor Woods's view) to watch the Wimbledon finals on (the licence cost for this alone is £28,000 a year).

In desperation and in the hope of saving a bit of council cash, I offered them my own alternative plan at the last cabinet meeting and I didn't charge them a penny in consultancy fees.

I suggested they froze market traders' rents until 2011, introduce a loyalty scheme for frequent traders (and how about a six-month reduced rent period for new traders?), promote the market a lot better than they have been doing (including leaflets for every new home built in the borough), retain the traditional shape of the market and then, if they wish, use any available space in the centre for entertainment/special markets or even a fountain!

Shrinking the market will be a first step toward its final demise.
Councillor Tony Clarke,
Independent, Castle Ward, Northampton Borough Council.

Threat to 800 years of history
The Liberal Democrats will become known as the party which finally got rid of the market on our historic Market Square.

Nearly 800 years of history is under threat with the latest daft idea to reduce even further the number of stalls on the market.

It seems only yesterday that the market was reduced in size and we were told it was going to be great and look what has happened . . . it has been an expensive disaster.

The loss of the main "Vera Wykes Aisle" was a major mistake and should be restored.

What is being proposed is on par with the loss of the Emporium Arcade.

Our Market Square is envied all over the country and I am sure that other market authorities will be shaking their heads in disbelief at what is being proposed.

The Lib Dems see the square as an entertainments arena and not as a market.

It is an open secret that they have held discussions about moving the market to Abington Street.

When this was last suggested, the traders organised a petition which attracted the signatures of many thousands of people.

The traders should be fighting these proposals and supporting Eamon Fitzpatrick.

We need a square in the middle of the market which can be used for the farmers' market etc and for entertainments.

This will draw people into the market instead of to the side of the market.

Over the years many people have bemoaned the loss of such things as the Emporium Arcade, The Fountain, The Peacock Hotel and Notre Dame School. We cannot live in the past but must learn from it.

The worthy citizens of Northampton need to act to stop these disgraceful proposals from going ahead.
Geoff Howes,
Alliston Gardens, Northampton.

Expansion will worsen pollution
I have been a resident of Kingsthorpe village for close on 60 years. I remember the days when Albert Lucas and his herd of cows walked up High Street twice a day to be milked.

How very different it is now.

Surely with the pollution around the Cock Hotel being far beyond an acceptable level and traffic gridlock as it is, any proposed development should be stopped forthwith.

I recently drove into the town centre and at the Cock Hotel junction waited for four changes of traffic lights before being able to make a right hand turn.

It is quite obvious that there is no liaison between the planning department, developers and the environmentalists.

I understand that the proposed Buckton Fields development is under the control of Daventry council and Dallington Heath under Northampton council.

I wonder if the West Northampton Development Corporation has a say in these matters?

The suggested one-way system for Manor Road and High Street in Kingsthorpe must definitely not go ahead.

These two streets are already used as rat runs by drivers attempting to avoid the Cock Hotel fiasco.

It is most noticeable that rat run drivers always drive far faster than local residents.

How long will it be before a child is knocked down and seriously hurt?

Furthermore, against residents' wishes, a dwelling in High Street has been demolished and developers are in the process of constructing 10 flats in its place.

This is going to mean at least another 10 cars driving out onto High Street and Kingswell Terrace.

It is high time that the local residents had a say in these matters and are listened to instead of continuously being contemptuously put to one side. As the developers, planners etc do not live in the area they do not have to suffer the consequences of their actions.

There must be no more development and it must be remembered that this is all good fertile food-producing land which will be lost forever and with a burgeoning world population we need every available acre of fertile land.
Charles Keith Barker,
High Street, Kingsthorpe, Northampton.

Nobody told us about turbine
I would like to state my views as a resident of Great Houghton and with reference to the letters in the Chronicle & Echo of August 5 from Antony Oxley and Neil Bull.

Mr Oxley states no objections were made to the wind turbine at Broadacres, Bedford Road, Great Houghton.

This was due to the simple fact that neither Great Houghton Parish Council nor Northampton Borough Council saw fit to notify the residents who would be directly affected by this wind turbine.

The first the residents of Willow Lane, Great Houghton, knew of the turbine was when it was erected, planning permission having been been granted by the borough council without the correct consultation of neighbours directly involved and who did have uninterrupted views across the Nene Valley, the best in Great Houghton.

Secondly, if safety was an issue, surely this should have been raised by Great Houghton Parish Council, as it did in regard of the Asda turbine.

What if a blade from the turbine situated alongside of a busy road, the A428, already a red route, did come off and caused an
accident with a bus full of primary school children going to Little Houghton School? Objections would have been made for the above reasons.

Great Houghton Parish Council seemed obsessed with the Asda turbine but agreed to one the other side of the village. Nimbyism? Judge for yourself.
Paul and George Morris,
Willow Lane, Great Houghton.

Planners wrong to reject Asda
Some readers have written to express their concern about the safety of a proposed wind turbine at Asda's Brackmills site.

Unlike them, I believe the WNDC's planning committee was wrong to reject the turbine.

First, the fact that safety arguments only became prominent late in the day suggests they may be a distraction from opponents' true concerns.

Second, the WNDC's own officers examined the safety issue in some detail and concluded there was insufficient evidence of risk to justify rejecting the proposal.

Third, any industrial installation presents some risk in principle. Planners have to weigh this up against existing risks and the risks of the alternatives.

Many activities carried out on Brackmills and nearby present significant risks to workers and/or neighbours. Do wind turbine objectors propose that all gas distribution plants and chemical stores be closed forthwith?

f course not, because like the minimal risks of a turbine breaking, these risks are assessed and managed to an acceptable level in view of their benefits.

The risks of climate change, although longer term, are real, and what we do in the next decade or two will seal the fates of our children and grandchildren.

While not overlooking other relevant concerns, the WNDC has a duty to allow companies like Asda to start reducing these massive risks.
Philip Gray,
Newington Road, Northampton.

Money machines
Speed camera statistics prove that the money machine is great while the real causes of accidents are being ignored.

There is more to accidents than breaking the speed limit and the real causes of accidents, including bad roads and signs, are left to rot.

There is a lack of police patrols to stop and educate people in their driving skills.

To quote an accident expert, "increasing the speed limit on some roads actually saves lives but I find in the politically correct arena lives do not matter" (JJ Lemming).

Who would you trust, the expert or the pen-pusher playing with figures?
John Stanton,
St James, Northampton.