THE decision to abandon the ‘shared space’ scheme is not just a blow for King Street – it is a blow for those who spent time and money putting together a plan and the local residents and visitors who were persuaded that their comments on the proposed scheme would count for something.

Despite promises that nothing would stop this from happening it now seems as if the whole consultation was just a worthless ‘tick-box’ exercise.

Any improvement to King Street will be a compromise between those (mainly residents and visitors) who would like to see total pedestrianisation, and those (mainly businesses) who want to keep the status quo. The former group seems prepared to compromise, so maybe the businesses that object would tell us why they are unable to accept anything that would make our town into a more attractive, accessible and enticing place to visit.

M.Gracie Knutsford