LETTER: Pros and cons of privatisation

From Mr David Coombs

Sir: Unlike Jonathan Glancey, I feel that the Government's decision to auction the Royal Navy College gives rise to at least as many opportunities as it does anxieties. In respect of the latter, both the building and the site not only have statutory protection but the far more subtle and, sometimes, curiously inhibiting protection of their fame.

To offer something for sale does not mean necessarily that it will be endangered. These days, the sometimes numbing effect of ownership by the state (or other public body) can be stimulated efficiently and creatively when in partnership with so-called private enterprise. In modern times, the one can mesh with the other to their mutual benefit. There is no point in looking back to any golden age (real or imagined), other than to be encouraged to do at least as well now.

Yours sincerely,

David Coombs

Milford, Surrey