​Councillor King’s letter
The letter from Colchester Council leader, David King (letters 21 July) somewhat misses the point in my letter (14 July) when he claims that removing the St Botolph’s roundabout will only add one minute to “peak journey times” for those travelling from Mersea and nearby areas.
Even if that were true, the biggest challenge facing Colchester is how to maintain a thriving city centre when most of the large chain stores which attract shoppers have moved out to Stanway, leaving independent shops struggling. The only credible solution to that is a strategy to attract more shoppers into the city centre from the surrounding rural areas, shoppers who as I earlier pointed out, have a choice of where they shop. However, I can see nothing in either the City Council’s masterplan or Councillor King’s letter which does that.
In fact, if anything - quite the opposite, as a core theme of the council’s masterplan is reducing car travel into Colchester. However, the masterplan, which the council’s consultation describes as a blueprint for “the next 100 years” totally ignores the fact that in 2020 the present government announced a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 7 years’ time (https://tinyurl.com/2p8jdeft). So, in 10-15 years’ time most cars on our local roads will be electric and producing zero emissions.
Being concerned about global climate change is important, but we elect a local council primarily to look after our local area. A city centre which lacks a thriving retail centre is likely to become a run-down environment with vandalism and crime.
Could I suggest that the council looks at Beccles in Suffolk where the fortunes of local independent traders were revived by a major mid-range supermarket being given planning permission to locate near the town centre with a large car park providing 2 hours free parking. It has attracted shoppers into the town from the wider rural area, which has led to many of the towns independent shops now thriving. Something similar would be more likely to breathe life into Colchester’s city centre economy than the current idea in the council’s masterplan of simply building a few hundred car free houses on land near the Town Station.
Colchester has an amazing historical heritage which, with the right vision, could enable it to be a thriving tourist centre like Bath or York, which people visit on city breaks. So, whilst it’s very welcome that the city council masterplan is looking to invest in heritage facilities, this will only work if we have a thriving town centre shopping area, which will require attracting more people into the town centre shops, not less.
Dr Martin Parsons
West Mersea
 

Sir
The plan to get rid St Botolph’s roundabout and discouraging car journeys into Colchester illustrates the basic problem with the Colchester masterplan, which is that it ignores the needs of the surrounding rural areas. Replacing St Botolph’s roundabout with a traffic light controlled junction will almost inevitably create traffic jams on Mersea Road, when currently traffic flows smoothly onto Southway at many times of the day.
The greatest challenge facing Colchester city centre is that we now have two distinct retail areas, one for major chain stores at Stanway and another, which they have largely moved out of, in the city centre. If the small independent shops which make up the bulk of Colchester’s shops are to survive, Colchester City Council needs to encourage more people from the rural areas to come into Colchester – not discourage them.
On Mersea I am sensing that a number of people are now preferring to shop in Maldon rather than Colchester. Both take a similar time to drive to, but Maldon is a pleasanter journey that doesn’t normally end with being stuck in a traffic jam. People have a choice where they shop and Colchester city centre needs the trade from rural areas if it is to survive.
 
Dr Martin Parsons
West Mersea