REGARD the article Vision of Southampton 2026", would you allow me to convey my views on this important subject?

I believe whatever lies ahead for our city in the next 20 years will depend entirely on our national economy plus political management.

Living in Southampton from 1951 to date, this great city of ours appears to have lost a great amount of its character, our work people have lost so much, our civic leaders etc will require a big push to assist them to climb this mountain in a sustained effort to establish Southampton again as a premium city.

Education and employment should be the critical factors to take this city forward, which having lost a huge amount of manufacturing, will be very difficult for skilled training to be implemented. Indeed, when any skilled training is made available and the trainees complete their courses, with mostly all the major manufacturing employers gone, what do we do with these unfortunate people?

Your article on housing mentioned the redevelopment of the Thornycroft site in Woolston. Any industrial sites would, of course, be welcome provided companies were found to occupy these units, although could any worker afford to buy a property in the proposed glass towers?

The article continued "The construction of this site will regenerate Woolston". I doubt this very much, although it will help.

Returning to any future predictions for Southampton up to 2026, it would be impossible to calculate the cost of houses during that year, possibly £1m which although sounding ridiculous now could be the norm.

My late father bought a house in Woolston during 1957 for £2,600, selling it to a developer in 1965 for £6,000 who promptly converted it into six flats, one of which I noticed the other day in an estate agent's window for £90,000!

The wow factor is really needed in Southampton, we need investment, motivation and skillful planning, most importantly we need sustainable manufacturing jobs, well paid, producing quality products just like we did in the past, and could do again.

H CLEVERLY, Fair Oak.