WITH reference to the ice rink, I read this article and agreed with the writer – however I moved from Andover and lived in Basingstoke for 32 years before returning to Andover last year.

Basingstoke did go through a stage of no shops etc. We were lucky that the multistorey had concrete cancer so they had to demolish it and it’s a pity that the same can’t be done with the Chantry Centre.

However, BDBC did look at bringing people to the town by installing the leisure park.

Then they refurbished the town. There is no reason why TVBC can’t do the same – we have loads of empty units in Walworth and Portway Industrial estates and no leisure facilities – unless you count pubs and a very very small leisure centre.

For a town with a growing population of over 40,000 this is unacceptable. When you consider that Basingstoke’s population is now over 108,000 (and no I haven’t included the villages in the borough) you can understand why there is more to do there.

Emma McCormick, Floral Way, Andover