It shouldn’t be all about looks

I am sure that many would have their own nominations, and would not necessarily agree with all of the winners, but that is another matter. I would criticise very heavily the choice of Costcutter in Warwick Street, not on the grounds of design, but in the very manner this building came about. Some of your readers will recall that the building stands on the site of an old bookshop rather quaintly titled ‘Books do Furnish a Room’ which stood empty for many years and was allowed to go to rack and ruin. In such cases, councils have the power to compel the owner to at least maintain the building in a serviceable state. This, Warwick District Council failed to do in spite of several contacts from myself. Eventually the building fell into such decay that there was no choice but to demolish it. I am surprised that the Leamington Society endorsed this choice as they originally said that it was a great pity that the building was pulled down.

As you will be aware, the awards are given for good design and attention to detail in the small things as well as the large which contribute to the overall quality of Leamington and reassert the fine architecture and civic spaces in the town. How I wonder does the neglect and demolition of an already fine building contribute to the overall quality of Leamington? And please don’t get me started on the conversion of the Old Library from a public space to an effectively gated community!

Is the giving of these awards somewhat blinkered, without regard to the social environment? You may think so, I couldn’t possibly comment.

John Allison, Leyfields Crescent Warwick