WHEN areas of private housing deteriorate, the council is empowered to compulsorily purchase the property in order to prevent the area becoming an eyesore or to build or expand road networks. Is this an option for Lord Square?

How would an area such as this be valued? If this would be too costly an exercise (and I suspect it probably would), maybe the area could be put to a slightly different use.

Perhaps the buskers, mini fairgrounds and the variety of organisations and businesses who regularly take up space on King William Street near the BHS store and within the precinct at the top of the ramp (sometimes with large advertising wagons, caravans and coaches) should be sent down to Lord Square, where they would be less in the way.

Could we also encourage Jack Straw to take his soap box down there, too? How about concerts, street performers, etc such as are found in Covent Garden in London? Is there no one with an imagination at the Town Hall?

TASS COTTON, by e-mail.