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OPINION: Letters to the editor of the Newbury Weekly News




I’m glad town centre streets are now closed

It is such a pleasure having both Bartholomew Street and Northbrook Street closed through August for repair works.

No more traffic backing up at the junction with the Kennet Centre at 4.50pm waiting for the road to open, with the time spent waiting that could have been used to simply drive round on the A339 and reach their destination earlier.

No more gridlock on the bridge as drivers ignore the lights and block all the exits. No wide boy racers speeding up the road all night with pedestrians are unaware of their presence until they speed past.

Less pollution, calmer streets and a great relaxed atmosphere into the evening, great for hospitality businesses and residents alike.

A safer and more pleasant atmosphere throughout the town.

I remember not that long ago that there was a plan to implement this as a permanent thing, but then nothing happened?

When will the plans be introduced?

Charlie Henderson
Newbury

Check unsubstantiated climate claims

This letters page raises many important concerns about future energy generation such as workers’ rights, abuses in the oil, gas and other extractive industries, optimising land use for food production,

biodiversity and energy generation and the visual impact of pylons.

These concerns are shared by environmentalists and those arguing for ‘business as usual’.

To help have a well-informed debate, more information is available from, for example, Human Rights Watch, the Sustainable Food Trust and CPRE The Countryside Charity.

This letter page is also sometimes used to put false words in the mouths of climate scientists and political leaders.

This is one of several favourite tactics of climate delayers and deniers, and fortunately is easily spotted.

Readers may like to check any unsubstantiated claims on these pages with, for example, the Met Office and the Climate Change Committee.

To stay up to date with climate science and politics, please consider subscribing to newsletters from The Conversation, Carbon Brief and DeSmog.

Dr Pat Watson
East Garston Eco Group

My experience shows our NHS is not broken

Recently I have been experiencing great difficulty in urinating.

At 8am on July 22 I contacted my local Falkland Surgery in Newbury.

At 11.30am on the same day I attended an appointment with Dr Ali Al Musawi who examined me and referred me to Basingstoke Hospital Urology Department.

On August 2 I received an ultrasound scan at Basingstoke.

On August 5 I had a cystoscopy with Dr Omar Allat whose camera discovered a stone in my bladder.

With great skill and patience he removed the stone using what is known as a basket.

It was about the size of a pea (don’t laugh!).

I am now functioning normally and am so grateful to the two doctors and their staff.

Don’t you dare tell me the NHS is broken!

Simon Carter
Porchester Road, Newbury

Fining Thames Water won’t have an impact

The fine of £104m imposed on Thames Water by the water regulator, OFPOO, for multiple illegal sewage spills is a fruitless exercise.

Thames Water's credit rating is 'junk' according to financial experts Moody's
Thames Water's credit rating is 'junk' according to financial experts Moody's

It will have no impact and nothing will change.

However, if Chris Weston, the chief executive of Thames Water (annual salary package in the order of £2.3m), had been personally fined one-hundreth of that amount – a mere £1.04m – the sewage spills would stop overnight.

Geordie Taylor
Hungerford

Artificial intelligence still comes with a cost

The July 25 NWN headline ‘Council turns to AI to fix district’s pothole problem’ puzzled me.

Artificial intelligence is merely an accountancy tool and may be a way of recording; it will be an expense involving staff and infrastructure but is unlikely to practically fill any actual holes and fissures which make driving uncomfortable and potentially dangerous.

Privatisation of public services may seem to be a way of saving cash – not so.

Every contractor has his price and introduces an additional layer of publicly-funded management which has to be paid for, hence presumably the need for AI as a way of monitoring.

Repairing potholes etc takes physical action and proper materials efficiently applied to achieve lasting repairs.

Applying the ‘40mm deep’ criterion seems laudable, and may appear to save money, but more probably will be used to justify not repairing any potholes or fissures in the highways of that depth or shallower.

Many holes and damaged areas up to 40mm deep will thus remain as a significant danger to cyclists, motor-cyclists and other vehicles.

Highways, whether main or minor roads, need to be maintained on a constant basis for safety reasons.

The repairs need to be of a standard that respects the original intended specification.

This does need finance and good management.

Making it a properly negotiated, direct responsibility of the private sector with a reasonable profit margin to satisfy investors could be a way forward, and cut out the ‘middle-man’.

Any contract penalties for failures could and should be diverted back to the original purpose.

Potholes are a problem but so is the management of the rest of our country’s infrastructure.

Our services and utilities need to be controlled by UK/GB-based organisations.

The political climate has changed.

Let our new Government, politicians and council officers be constructive and divert their efforts to benefitting those they represent directly rather than creating a multi-layered mountain of bureaucracy.

AJ Bedford
Golding Close, Thatcham

Turnpike School’s big reunion on October 26

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the opening of the now demolished Turnpike School.

To celebrate this occasion a reunion is being held on Saturday, October 26.

The reunion is open to former pupils who were in the first seven years intake (1964 to 1970) along with any former staff members from these years.

Anyone who is interested, please contact me for more details at the following email address: stevefidler16@gmail.com

Steve Fidler
Newbury
07500 946862



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