SO the Co-op site in Leytonstone is about to become a Matalan store and, according to Cllr Clyde Loakes, this is "what we've always wanted for Leytonstone". Perhaps that's what the council wants, but I think residents may have more imaginative plans.

The Co-op site is in the heart of a community lacking communal facilities. Why can't the Co-op, with its socialist heritage, come up with a better plan for this prime site? Surely it could find a buyer for this site from the leisure industry?

Leytonstone has a much greater need for its own leisure centre, a place that can be walked to by the thousands of residents close to the Co-op site.

The current crazy traffic scheme means that it's already impossible to drive down the High Road or along Kirkdale Road. Another huge retail outlet will only compound this problem and make life even more difficult for businesses.

Leytonstone is not short of clothing retailers and there is already a Matalan nearby in Beckton.

The Co-op site is a prime one, large and centrally located close to good public transport links. Let's get something decent built there: a people's palace of health and pleasure with pools, gyms, cafes, GP practice, children's play zones and so on, all under one roof.

JMC RIDEAL,

Lytton Road,

Leytonstone