Matt's Crow Country: Developments must reflect town's uniqueness

LAST weekend was a good one for Royston, with the town hosting its 2009 Arts Festival. Although I wasn t able to attend myself, from what I hear, this year s event was the best yet, with activities and workshops to suit all ages and interests taking place

LAST weekend was a good one for Royston, with the town hosting its 2009 Arts Festival.

Although I wasn't able to attend myself, from what I hear, this year's event was the best yet, with activities and workshops to suit all ages and interests taking place.

Although it would be unfair to single out too many events in what was by all accounts a fabulous four days, I've received particularly glowing reports about the Twilight Zone walk, which took people on a tour of some of the town's strangest places.

I hope The Crow offices weren't on that list!

Events such as the Arts Festival highlight what a rich, unique history there is in our small town. And one hopes that planners will bear this uniqueness in mind when considering new housing schemes such as the one being put forward for land at Ivy Farm (190 new homes in the pipeline - Crow September 24).

With a booming population there is always going to be a need for more housing, and in a way it is good that people want to come and live in Crow Country.

However, I just hope that any development which is built is in keeping with the look of the town, and proportional to the facilities which we have.

I'm sure we've all visited the kind of identikit housing estates which could be in any town or city, anywhere in the country.

In my opinion it would be a great shame if Royston was to turn into one of these soulless dormitory towns, and I hope that any developers wanting to come to this area will be prepared to make an investment in the town in terms of infrastructure and/or facilities, rather than just building homes and making a quick buck.

It's not often that you see riot police at football matches in the Blue Square Premier League, the fifth tier of English football.

But unfortunately they had to be called in at Cambridge United last Saturday, when trouble erupted between a handful of U's fans and visiting supporters from Luton Town.

I witnessed the altercation close at hand, and it was far from pleasant. Moreover, it was a worrying throwback to the 1980s, when violence between rival supporters was commonplace.

This week we have also seen West Ham and Millwall charged by the FA following an incident at a Carling Cup match earlier this season, and I hope these incidents are not indicative of a return to the bad old days.

The authorities must clamp down on this type of hooliganism and stop it from becoming widespread once more.