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Lost: sports centre
• YOUR (anonymous) reader from Harvist estate has scored some crafty political points against the Green Party – indeed, against politicians in general – by switching the context of remarks made on different occasions by Councillor Katie Dawson about Arsenal FC, Bruce Springsteen and carbon footprints (Boss’s bad vibrations, January 18).
I do not want to play down the misery that will be imposed on residents who are not fans of Bruce Springsteen, but I want to return the focus to an issue that could haunt us long after our ears have stopped ringing in the wake of the concerts. The issue I am referring to is the uncertainty over the replacement for the JVC Sports Centre.
Arsenal FC is clearly in the wrong if it has allowed tickets to be sold without prior approval from the licensing committee. But it would be very unfair to confiscate the tickets from fans once they have already been sold. This would cause bad feeling on all sides and would waste time and money.
It would be far better for Arsenal FC and the council to take this opportunity to make peace with the community by giving an assurance that the sports centre will at last form part of the Queensland Road redevelopment plans. A decision like this would cancel out much of the pain and mistrust caused by these concerts.
In better times it would have been quite unnecessary for me to write this letter, because the soccer centre would have been an unconditional component in the redevelopment plans. But, regrettably, we now live in an era in which it is fashionable, if not mandatory, to treat every square foot in the borough as a profit centre.
IAN SHACKLOCK
Monsell Road, N4
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