Sir.-Regarding plans for New Road, I feel that constructing a multi-storey car park on the site of Castons and Southern Road car parks would be absolutely the wrong thing to do.

All Saints Church is an attractive and symbolically-important old building. The Victorian school buildings and the fine terraced housing on Southern Road are of equal value.

They are all low profile and I think it is ludicrous to claim that they would not be obscured by the new car park - from most angles, they definitely would.

There are lovely trees - healthy and approaching maturity - growing on this site. If you look at New Road now, you could say they are the only things worth preserving, yet they will be axed for the new car park.

In my opinion, Webbers is the right site for a multi-storey car park. It is extensive and could also accommodate plenty of housing, where I believe people would want to live. Housing would greatly increase the value of the site.

All over the country, car dealerships have relocated to glitzy new premises on business parks. Offered the right deal, surely Webbers would be happy to do this.

Castons Yard south, with its lovely trees, would make a delightful, city-type square. It would be a good walking route or a place to meet friends. Perhaps we could call it Attwood Square.

So come on, planners. It's not too late to put things right and make this town good for living in - not just somewhere to park your car and drive away again.

-Louise Shurlock, Warton Road, Basingstoke.