The travel page about "London’s really cool hot spot” is interesting, especially in conjunction with the article a few pages earlier, “Economic crisis hits efforts to let council property” (page 20, September 14).

It’s years since I’ve been to Camden Market, but it’s long been pretty cool, or hot. 

Its striking feature is that a mass of small enterprises all trade in and around a lot of fairly run-down, once-redundant canal-side buildings.

One visionary developer took a lease from British Waterways, back in the 1970s, and the area has never looked back. The same developer set up Container City in the hugely historic Trinity Buoy Wharf, and brought a remote and neglected part of the city to flourishing life.

I know the area around Coal Drops Yard, and Granary Square (in the background of the photo of Kimberley Barber) rather better, having worked for several years with conservationists to ensure other developers didn’t just flatten everything around Kings Cross and St Pancras stations in the name of regeneration.

Power of Place, a landmark English Heritage document on urban conservation, was launched by arts minister Chris Smith in the old – freezing and wholly unregenerated - St Pancras ironworks. Once it was announced that Central St Martin’s school of art was to move into Thomas Cubitt’s old granary, I felt we were pretty safe. 

This is relevant because of Winchester City Council’s struggles in dealing with the few old industrial buildings it owns.

The Goods Shed on Barfield Close is up - again - for reuse.  Previous plans for it started well, as a dance studio, but ended up so overblown they were unaffordable.

Coitbury House, although not mentioned in the list, is another example of a wildly overdone plan that then had to be abandoned.

Whenever the council wants to develop, it starts by designing metaphorical gold taps. Huge sums spent on plans are wasted.  If the eventual scheme ever comes about, it’s unlikely anything will be affordable.

Good insightful developers know that authenticity and affordability are ultimately more interesting than bling.

Judith Martin,

Romsey Road,

Winchester

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