WELL done Southampton City Council! Fancy being able to destroy so much of our city's historical heritage in one fell swoop!

I allude to the proposals to sell the historic plot at lower High Street including 14th century Wool House and medieval vaults; and to build a three storey glass carbuncle to deface the symmetry of the only decent building in Southampton to have been built between the wars; namely the Civic Centre.

Oh! and while at it, let us encroach on some Victorian parkland at the same time, to help lessen the impact Southampton has of being a "green garden" city.

Let me see if I understand the report correctly: The ancient buildings will be "preserved", i.e. they won't be knocked down; but the area will be developed into hotel, shops, restaurants, or possibly flats and offices. That's a tough choice for the developers! Question: which gives the most quick profit? More flats and offices? That's settled then!

The façade and entrance to the former magistrates' courts makes a grand gesture; and I applaud this side of the building being converted, and utilised as a heritage centre; but not at the expense of either, the aesthetic appeal of the building as a whole, or of adjacent parkland.

Perhaps it is fair exchange to lose some medieval stone work in favour of a 21st century heritage centre, just in time for the Titanic centennial? Read the small print! The major funding will come from a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund - assuming that the application is successful.

Is the vision of a heritage centre just a carrot to be subsequently snatched away, when the people have acquiesced to the immediate objective - in this case a lucrative land deal?

Scenario: The land, including the established heritage sites, is sold; but the lottery grant is refused. The heritage centre we never actually had (like the new ice rink) disappears in a puff of smoke; and Southampton has lost yet more of its precious few remaining tourist assets.

ERIC PAYNE-DANSON, Southampton.