Much has recently been made in both The Evening Telegraph and on local radio about city centre nightclubs and pubs being converted by their owners into flats.

My personal view is that this is not a good thing as we already have every man, Jack and his dog building houses and flats on every spare inch of land in the city, be it in their back gardens or by demolishing existing buildings.

These so-called property developers aren't doing it to alleviate a shortage of housing, but simply to make money.

The city centre in most towns in the UK is the hub of entertainment and night life. So converting existing clubs and pubs to flats means that the occupiers will be living next to late night takeaways, pubs and bars.

Seeing as the clubs were there first, these people won't be able to complain about noise nuisance – it's a bit like building your house next to an airport runway and then complaining about the noise.

Peterborough as a city doesn't already have a huge choice of nightlife, and so losing yet more places means the choice is even more limited.

How can this be a good thing for those of us who do enjoy a night out?

Worse still, what will our kids do at night if places close and are turned into flats?

Finally, buildings such as those in North Street which have a lovely character and may even be listed would be ruined by conversion to flats.

Retaining the city's nightlife isn't simply about keeping the Great Northern and the Brewery Tap. The council needs to keep as many places open, and I personally hope they will not approve these mass applications as the flood gates will open and leave our city "dead at night".
Jenny Bracken
Garton End Road,
Peterborough

Villagers should open up to the outside world
RE: Sex shop plan arouses village residents' anger (Evening Telegraph, Saturday May 10).
We live in a volatile world of financial crisis, terrorism, Iraq, Afghanistan and global instability, but this appears to be irrelevant to the villagers of Guyhirn.
As we all face the possibility of armageddon, these villagers are embroiled in a devastating situation, the opening of a sex shop.
Vociferous Action Group member Mr Carpenter fears that it will expand into live performances and lap dancing. Oh dear.
In fact, the proposed site for this venue is on a trunk road, and it basically bypasses the centre of Guyhirn and, additionally, it would utilise an otherwise derelict building.
The villagers should really open their doors to the outside world, this is 2008 not the 1940s.
However, admittedly, I do have deep concerns with the opening of this venue – will I find any space in the car park?
Mr J Gunning
Deerleap,
South Bretton,
Peterborough

The kids are bored
RE: Graffiti board chopped down.
I was disgusted to read someone had cut down the graffiti boards.
Everybody moans at the kids of today and calls them thugs, yet to put these boards up on wasteland is the best thing that can happen. Then some idiot comes along and damages the boards. Are the kids thugs or the adults? I think the boards should be put up in parks and on wasteland, because it is the only way kids can express themselves and it will keep them together in one place.
All they want is somewhere to go and something to do, and even that is being taken away from them just like everything else.
S CARTER
Via e-mail

Glad that eyesore has finally been removed
I don't know why people are complaining about the loss of the building on the corner of Celta Road. Now it's gone it makes me realise how much of an eyesore it was.
If people did care about it, why didn't they do something about it before now? They've had long enough to do so. At least now there is a green open space to look at instead of an ugly old building.
Mrs Geraldine Harrison
London Road,
Peterborough

Cemetery should not be disturbed
I AM writing in response to the letter by Rebecca Yates (ET, May 7) regarding parking at Eastfield Cemetery.
Her letter states that "children are our future – not those lying in the cemetery".
My response to that is the remark was totally selfish, and very disrespectful to all the living relatives of the deceased.
If it weren't for "those lying there" then I, for one, wouldn't be here, as my mother is buried at Eastfield.
Everywhere else people are being encouraged to walk, cycle or use the bus to cut down on CO2 emissions, so why not opt for one of these alternatives?
We had to pay to have my mother buried. How much are the parents paying to park? Wouldn't it have been better to lock the cemetery gates for half an hour in the mornings and evenings and use the school field for parking?
My other point to make is that the council allowed parking in the cemetery when part of Eastern Avenue has a congestion problem that has been reported on many occasions and has been ignored. Why?
MRS HENSON
Eastern Avenue,
Dogsthorpe,
Peterborough
Worrying apathay
HAVING read the election results in the May 2 edition of The Evening Telegraph, I was horrified at the low turnout of my local electorate.
1,836 votes cast in the two villages of Eye and Thorney really is a disgrace.
Why do so many eligible electors ignore this important part of the democratic process?
MRS J L UNDERHAY
Woburn Drive,
Thorney,
near Peterborough