Sir, It is indeed good news, as town councillor Margaret Davis said (Herald, April 1) that the plans for the Orchard Centre have now been submitted to the SODC.

Now the public can at last put in their objections with the hope that the SODC sees sense and throws the plans out.

The change to the bus route and creating a bus lane that cuts through the Orchard Centre from Station Road to the Broadway would destroy the very vision and essence of what the original designers and planners wanted for the Orchard Centre and Didcot.

It has been said that the part of the Orchard Centre that the bus lane would pass through is now the cultural heart of Didcot. This is something that a lot of people have wanted and worked hard to create for a long time as there was nothing like this pre-Orchard Centre within Didcot.

So this bus lane would destroy a lot of what a great many people have set out to create, including the Orchard Centre owners themselves.

There is also a safety aspect to these plans. Both Cineworld and the Cornerstone Arts centre have entertainment programmes that include children’s entertainment. Going to the cinema or to the arts centre is seen as a treat by young children so therefore would be very excitable. With excitable children at present this does not pose a problem walking from Orchard Street across to either the cinema or Cornerstone.

If a bus lane is approved there is the risk of a collision between a child and a bus – a risk that is not there at present.

To have a bus lane through this part of the Orchard Centre would also go against the idea to link the Broadway shops into the Orchard Centre. The bus lane would unintentionally have the effect of splitting the area around Wilkinson, Prezzo’s, Cornerstone, Cineworld, and Newbury Building Society and the hairdressers at the top of the Orchard Centre from the rest of the Orchard Centre.

So, in a stroke, the link and the good intentions of being able to integrate both parts of the shopping and business area of Didcot would be lost.

There has been great deal of thought put in to making the area between the Broadway and the top of Station Road an open and pleasant environment in which to meet and socialise.

This pleasant atmosphere would all be lost if the present plans go ahead. There are many, many more reasons why these plans should be thrown out.

With the SODC elections the public have the rare event of actually using their vote to influence a decision as to these plans. Ask the SODC candidate their views on this matter and vote for them if you agree. For me, the plans as they stand are not only bad news for the residents of Station Road but for the whole of Didcot.

Michael Moore
High Street
Didcot