As a regular visitor from overseas, cramming in as much as possible in the one area is vital. SOG, Guildhall, LMA, etc are all in close proximity, providing the opportunity to dash from one to the other during the course of a day, whereas making the journey to Kew takes considerable time via public transport, or by car, time spent re-orientating and familiarising yourself with the processes and inevitable upgrades and changes at Kew, means allocating an entire day there with a lot of advance planning and a good working knowledge of the systems used.

It would be a shame to lose the readily accessible facilities in Islington - a convenient locality for everyone. Financially, it's not recommended that we 'put all our eggs in the same basket' so why our archives and heritage?

Susie Woods, Melbourne, Australia

The initial concept of moving the FRC from close to the London Metropolitan Archives, the Society of Genealogists and several other important information resources was flawed. A visitor to one of these places finds it very convenient to visit a second one the same day. Going out to Kew means committing a whole day rather that a few hours whist in central London. Being unaware of the several inadequacies of the non-paper versions and deciding that these new technologies are to be the only resource in the future is pathetically incompetent. The on-line census data available at FRC is riddled with errors. There needs to be a major outcry to stop this in its tracks and keep the paper and film records available in the FRC in Islington. The civil service that thinks it knows better needs to take a long hard look at itself and put their customers before their own self interest. Whoever is due to occupy the building in the future cannot have the same degree of need to be in Islington.

I stimson, Rugby, UK

From top, the grandiose IT scheme, to bottom, the production of certificates at Southport, this reeks of the public service culture; arrogant, self-satisfied, seedy and slow. Such a contrast between the customer oriented speak which Government Departments have learned and the sneering, cynicism of the cheerless staff who hold customers in contempt.

Ted Fine, Herts, UK

It is a very good idea to move all the "The National Archives" to one place. There is only one problem with it; that is it is in the wrong place! The TNA at Kew, SURREY is easy to get to if one lives in Richmond, Kingston-upon-Thames, or even Leatherhead, but the transport system to arrive there is poor from central London and takes about one hour via the North London Line or the District Line. The car parking is adequate at present, but there should be plans to increase the parking spaces after the "Big Move". I feel sure that more people will need to travel to Kew by car than public transport.
The government has been saying that we should make more use of the busses and trains. The move to Kew is likely to see this policy turned on it's head.

Think about all the of the facilities near FRC. Society of Genealogists, The Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall, to name few.

Come on the government think again, or at least think for once! Votes are at stake here! Autumn General Election?

Bernard MEECH, Braintree, Essex

What did you expect? This Government - presided over for ten years by a Prime Minister who had no idea how computers worked - has fouled up yet again. Is there nobody in New Labour who can negotiate an IT contract and then hold the contractors to their commitments? Microfiche viewers are no use whatever to people with less than 20:20 vision and it seems that Kew will be even more overcrowded with patrons than the FRC and its predecessor premises which usually resembled the "Black Hole of Calcutta".

All we need now is a fire of flood at Kew and the nation's heritage will just disappear - as, I suspect, the Government wanted it to! Why should the humble proles be allowed to know more than Government Ministers and Civil Servants think is good for them?

Adrian Martin, Birmingham, UK

Typical inefficiency of this government. When will they learn that everything they touch turns to dust. Talk about complicating the simple. This seems to be the tenet that they adhere to.

kerry bruce, Stockport,

It is quite clear that management consultants have moved into yet another area of government. They have destroyed the FRC,and now they are moving on to The National Archives.

They are attempting to squeeze the FRC into the building at Kew,claiming it is all well,but in reality it is becoming a complete shambles.

The building that houses the nations archives(TNA) was bulit for just that and that alone.To allow a group of people who know nothing about archives, to completely destroy our heritage is another example of this government's total ambivalence and acquisence to management consultants.

It should be stopped.

peter gallagher, london,

Is it a coincidence that about the same time the early closure of the FRC facility was anounced, Ancestry withdrew free access to the indexes on their site.
The ONS must negotiate with Ancestry for the return of that free access until such time as DOVE is complete. If ONS are quoting mid to late 2009 now, heavens knows when it will actually be delivered.

John Feast, Sandhurst, UK