We should make city special again
I read Phil Garton's article ("Is this the death of the UK high street?", Mercury, January 16) with interest.
It seems to me that if English cities such as Leicester are to avoid the sort of long-term decline that many are predicting, we need to be much more ambitious than anyone (including Phil) is suggesting.
We need to start thinking on a much more human level and to recreate the city as it appears to us as children – somewhere that is special; somewhere larger, stranger, more complex and exciting than the place where most of us actually live; somewhere full of possibilities where, in safety and pleasant surroundings, we can meet new people, discover new things – and new things about ourselves; the kind of place that we might like to visit if we were on holiday.
Cities are what we make them. If we're content to accept a modern urban experience characterised by fear, indifference and drudgery, that's what we'll get.
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If, on the other hand, we aspire to something better, then our city's future will be bright. It's our choice.
Nick Knight, Stoneygate.
At noon on Saturday, there will be a service of commemoration of Charles I, king and martyr, at St Mary de Castro, Castle Street, Leicester, conducted by the Rt Rev Norman Banks, Bishop of Richborough.
This will be followed by a free buffet lunch, after which, at 2pm, the bishop will give a talk on Charles, followed by questions.
Charles was offered his life after being held by Parliament at the end of the English Civil War, in return for abandoning Episcopacy, the governance of the Church of England by bishops, which we still have today.
He refused, thus saving the Church from becoming made simply into a sect. By standing firm, he died, and by dying, saved the Church of England for the future.
We will have leaflets to give out, explaining this critical decision in the history of the Church.
St Mary de Castro has strong historical links with the siege of Leicester in 1645, with its south wall still loop-holed for defence and close by the mass grave of many of the defenders.
Chris Stevens, Oadby.
Comments
by 4_Stroke
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 1:30PM
“The city centre high street is a lost cause. It is becoming a ghost town of empty shops. There is virtually no need for anyone to go there anymore and there is nothing else to attract shoppers during the day and pub goers at night.
If you want to think radical then remove ALL traffic from within a 200 metre radius of the clock tower. That means taxis, busses, cars and cyclists. Make the entire city centre area a pedestrian zone from 8AM to 2AM giving shops a 6 hour time zone to restock. Then surround the centre with a number of affordable long stay car parks along with a decent under cover bus station, taxi rank and Cycle Park.
Make it easy to get in and out of and a pleasant pedestrian environment when you are there.
Then you may have a chance of salvaging the city centre.”