SIR: John Hearn’s “Radical Vision for Historic City” – (
Chronicle, April 8) – is undoubtedly a commendable objective but seems to overlook the needs of those less mobile. Some people are unable to walk or cycle. Age, arthritis and physical disability affect a significant number of our population so, making Winchester a “Pedestrian’s City” would preclude access to many.
Additionally, not everyone has an hour spare to walk in and back from the suburbs and carrying shopping on a bike could be precarious. That said we do need to reduce traffic in the city and encourage walking and cycling. We all know cycling lanes to be a joke, as most were funded through EU grants and to qualify, the council simply had to claim the money by the length of white lines they had laid down. This explains the absurdity of some lanes which start and abruptly end after a few metres having gone nowhere. The issue for me though, as a walker is the state of repair of our pavements. In France, Belgium or the Netherlands you would never find uneven and broken slabs, bumpy, poorly laid asphalt, or loose kerbstones especially in historic cities such as Dinar, Bruges or Amsterdam. The pavements of Winchester are an embarrassing disgrace for our visitors and dissuade anyone with impaired eyesight or poor balance from venturing out on foot. As a cyclist, I find the road margins, where cyclists have to ride no better. Raised or deeply recessed drain covers, road surface breakup and general debris, make for a hazardous ride. Even poorly maintained verge-side hedges, present injury risk.