YEP Letters February 26

Saddened at death of Monkee Peter

David Gibbs, Leeds 7

I was saddened to read of the passing of musician Peter Tork.

His name may not be readily known by many today but the group he was part of in the 1960s and intermittently thereafter was The Monkees.

They were extremely popular for a short while and were the only pop artists to outsell the the Beatles in 1967-68, a formidable feat in itself.

His death is another loss of my childhood memories as it will be to a lot of people of a certain age. RIP.

Opportunity knocks on our high streets

Brian Berry, Chief Executive, Federation of Master Builders.

I’M really encouraged with the visionary approach taken by Parliament’s Communities Committee – headed by Sheffield MP Clive Betts – as it looks at how we need to fundamentally reimagine the ways that we regenerate our high streets in order to adapt to the challenges of modern life.

Central to breathing new life into our high street is converting empty or underused spaces above shops into new homes.

These kind of homes would be ideal for young families and professionals, and would benefit the high street through increased footfall to the ‘activity-based community gathering places’ which the report wants us to aspire to.

The FMB report Homes on our high streets sets out a number of creative ways that we can overcome the challenges laid out by the Select Committee and which are associated with regeneration projects, including disparate ownership and preserving local characteristics.

In this regard, I was particularly pleased with the Committee’s conclusion that the Government must review the planning powers currently available to local authorities, with a view to strengthening them and empowering local authorities to deliver on town centre transformation and, at the same time, the Government’s ambitious housing targets.