CONGRATULATIONS on your extensive coverage of the proposed closure of the Sessions House.

Such detail will bring home the implications of the loss of the court to Knutsford's residents.

Yet I do hope those who live in areas like Macclesfield, Poyton and Congleton realise the implications for them too.

If there is a public will to save the Sessions House, it must come from other parts of Cheshire too.

Perhaps our MP and councillors could contact their colleagues, who represent other areas affected by the proposed closure, and ask them to join the fight.

The article by Joan Williams sums up the situation brilliantly.

The closure of the Sessions House not only has implications for the listed building but for justice itself.

The Court Service state that the building 'has been maintained in accordance with grade 2 listed building.'

(They seem not to know that is a Grade 11*.)

They also state that one of the courts is out of action, but don't say why.

(We of course know it's because part of the ceiling fell into the dock, narrowly missing two defendants).

I am sure that if this building had been owned privately, Macclesfield Borough Council would have served a repairs' notice long ago. The appalling neglect of this important building and lack of a rolling programme of repairs, has now allowed the Court Service to argue for its closure.

Costs of £4.9 million are quoted for repairing the building and bringing it up to modern standards.

As is stated in the document, 'running costs and utilities at Chester Magistrates Court have yet to be negotiated.... (and) an increase in costs in reimbursing jurors, witnesses and some members of the legal profession' will result if the court is moved from Knutsford.

Surely this money could be better spent upgrading the Sessions House.

The argument for centralising the courts in Chester is not only economical but 'efficiency gains for listing and juror utilization at one location.' Is making life easier for the bureaucrats more important than access to the court system for ordinary people?

The Sessions House is the most important civic building in Knutsford and only of only eight Grade 11*s in the town.

If the court should close, what would be the future of the building? What are the hidden costs of disposes of a Grade 11* in line with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport's own guidelines in 'The Disposal of Historic Buildings?'

Will it need to be repaired before sale so that a fair market price can be obtained? It will certainly have to be made vandal proof. And what about watertight to prevent further deterioration?

Would this money not be better spent on repairing the building so that it could continue as a court?

If the building is sold, what would a developer do with it? There are constraints inherent in its design, a purpose-built court house, and the interior is protected. The site is restrictive.

Would it be suitable for flats or offices with lack of fenestration on some elevations? Where would cars park? To use the cobbled forecourt would affect the setting of a listed building.

The Local Area Plan stated, in 1997, that the provision car parking in Knutsford had reached capacity. Workers using residential roads as car parks already plague streets around the town centre.

I have already contacted Save Britain's Heritage, who are writing a report on courts throughout the country. They have been involved in some high profile campaigns including The Baltic Exchange.

If you want to save the Sessions House, please respond to the consultation before May 1, write letters and sign the Guardian's petition before it is a fait accompli for the Court Services.

SANDRA DOUGLAS

Brook Street

Knutsford