14/06/05

Last Thursday I waited for the 10am in Nunnery Lane. It arrived a quarter of an hour late and then broke down. On Friday morning I again tried my luck but the bus did not turn up at all.

On leaving the town the same day, I arrived outside the Covered Market for the 31 bus at 10.15am.

This was standing with the engine running but no sign of a driver. I was told by people in the queue it had been standing there with the engine running since 10.10am.

At 10.25 I spotted two drivers standing talking. I asked one of them if the bus (still with the engine running) was going to go at all. The reply was no. We had to wait for a double-decker. When this finally arrived all the people in the queue moved forward to get on.

We were then told not to get on this, as the original bus still standing with the engine running was the one we wanted. It was just the driver who was transferring from the double-decker to the engine-still-running bus.

I think it's time the council booted Arriva out of Darlington and got us someone more reliable. - B Scott, Darlington.

SHOPPING CENTRES

I WAS wondering why Darlington needs another shopping centre in the town when the Cornmill seems to be having trouble finding tenants.

It currently has six empty units and Index will be closing soon, which, for a small shopping centre, is really quite bad.

I do hope that when the new centre opens it won't be another ghost mall.

I have noticed recently that the council is doing a lot to attract business into the town centre and I hope that the management of the Cornmill will be doing so as well. - J Warwick, Darlington.

EU DEBATE

DESPITE the "No" vote on the EU constitution in both France and the Netherlands, and ahead of any referendum in the UK, large chunks of the EU constitution are being implemented regardless of the democratic will of the people.

The setting up of the EU's own worldwide diplomatic service and its police college in Hampshire, the launch of the EU's Galileo space programme and the European Defence Agency to create a European defence force and policy are all being currently implemented. The plan for an integrated United States of Europe continues.

So much for Mr Blair's "period of reflection". - Peter Troy, Sedgefield.

COMMUNITY PROJECT

PERHAPS your readers would be interested to learn of a community project taking place in Birtley, County Durham, where residents are creating a community park. It is believed to be the first time such an initiative has been carried out in this area.

Members of Station Lane Area Residents' Association have been able to lease a suitable site from Gateshead Council - formerly the site of George Street School.

People living in the terraced streets of the area were aware of the lack of open space and play facilities in the immediate vicinity and when the school was demolished the value of the site to the community was recognised. Plans were formed to create a small park which was expected to cost about £230,000.

Funding for this development has come from both public and private sources.

Residents are looking forward to enjoying the park as it nears completion. - John Gallon, Chairman, Station Lane Area Residents' Association.

LEMUR THEORY

THE mystery animal described as puzzling the police in Wiltshire is almost certainly a ringtailed lemur (Echo, June 7).

This creature is harmless but will, of course, bite if it is frightened. It is nocturnal and largely arboreal.

Lemurs are common in captivity and I doubt if they are classified as dangerous wild animals. They are native to Madagascar. - MT Green, Annfield Plain.

LOVELY VILLAGE

A LETTER headed Sad Village was published (HAS, June 7). As this had no name, one is unaware of the sex of the writer so I cannot address them. So let me comment upon the content.

The writer said at one time we had six thriving pubs and a wonderful service for tourists.

But then we did not have a Tourist Information Centre, or a Meet the Middletons, which we now have - giving an excellent service to tourists.

We still have, as we had then, first class bed and breakfast establishments and enough pubs to serve the needs of tourists and locals, unless your idea of a holiday is to flit from pub to pub.

As for businesses forced into bankruptcy, I don't know where he/she got that information. As in any community, shops do close for many reasons.

As for mediocrity: who planted the beautiful daffodils, troughs, and hanging baskets of flowers etc? Why, the mediocre people of my wonderful home town of Middleton of course. - Alan Blumer, Middleton-in-Teesdale.

HOSPITAL LAYOUT

I HAVE recently been a patient at Bishop Auckland Hospital where I found the doctors and nursing staff to be of the finest calibre.

I must admit I was pampered; nothing was a trouble as they attended to my needs.

However, I was totally shocked at the apparent inappropriate layout of the building, which, in my opinion, was designed for psychopathic rabbits complete with isolation cells. There are also garden areas where humans are not permitted.

There is enough wasted space to build a spacious operating theatre with adjoining recovery room, instead of patients being transported through the public waiting room. This must be quite traumatic for some children waiting to go for treatment.

In future Tony, when you build another hospital, go to the local DIY store who will design it on a computer. You can make any adjustments before the installation, saving you money and mistakes. - Irene Littlejohns, Bishop Auckland.

SEEKING POLICEMEN

I HAVE just had visitors over from Spain and, apart from the awful weather last week, they seemed to enjoy their stay.

One comment, without prompting, was: "Where are your police? You never see any."

I could only say we must be very good and don't need any. - Roy Tatman, Darlington.

ADOPTION

I am researching the individual experiences of people who have been adopted and may be in the process of looking for, or have found, their birth parents and families.

If you would be willing to tell me of your experiences or thoughts and feelings on this matter I would be most grateful.

All correspondence sent will be treated as private and confidential. - David Crowder, 12 Whinchat Drive, Birchwood Warrington, Cheshire, WA3 6PB or alternatively davidjcrowder@hotmail.co.uk

School Closure Debate

MEMO TO MR BLAIR: I AM devastated to hear that Hurworth School may close. Both myself and husband received a high standard of education at Hurworth School.

We have our own children now and have specifically moved back to Hurworth, so that our children could be educated in a smaller school, where they can walk to school, and receive a high standard of education.

Within a village you tend to hear of any trouble, ie bullying, poor behaviour sooner rather than later and staff are more aware of what is going on and know the children as individuals.

I am dismayed that anyone can think merging Eastbourne School and Hurworth School will be to the benefit of our children. Hurworth have worked hard to achieve the pass rate they have, the villagers have raised money, to enable it to become a Maths and Computing College.

In my opinion, in larger schools the children become just numbers, there is a higher risk of peer pressure and bullying. The class numbers could be larger which means the individual children do not receive the same amount of attention.

Does Mr Blair honestly think that by having a state-of-the-art school, that the children who currently truant and misbehave at Eastbourne will all of a sudden want to learn? Their example could affect our children's performance.

I would rather have old equipment and smaller classes than a large state-of-the-art school. Look at private education, their classes are small and they have excellent results.

Mr Blair goes on about the importance of education, but at the end of the day it all boils down to money. Mr Blair should be proud of Hurworth and be using it as an advertisement for his Government. Why change something that is working so well?

I feel that the heart and soul will be taken out of the village and we will end up just a large housing estate.

Mr Blair goes on about parents having choices and rights re their children's education. We have not been included in any consultation process and the only choices I feel I personally have, is to whether we move away from our family and friends to an alternate village that still has a village school or will it be financially viable to send our children to private education.

These are decisions we should not have to make and if Mr Blair had any consideration for the education of our children he would not have put us in this dilemma.

To add further insult, they are proposing to call the new school, Hurworth School, when it is not in Hurworth, this is a misadvertisement and they are going to build it near one of the busiest roundabouts in the town, the children will have to leave at 8am if they are to reach school on time! I cannot think of anything positive about this proposal.

I hope Mr Blair and the council will listen to the opinions of those that matter, the parents and children and rethink their decision and look at other ways of turning Eastbourne around and leaving Hurworth in the village where it belongs. - Mrs Wilson, Hurworth.

COURAGEOUS CHANGE: I FEEL the proposal to close both Eastbourne and Hurworth Schools and to create one school for both to be a very courageous one.

No one likes change. I have total respect for the views of the people of Hurworth. However, if one believes that it is a right of every child to receive a first class education where they can reach their full potential, irrespective or where they live, then this proposal is the right one.

The teaching staff from Hurworth will be transferring to the new school so the high standards and ethos will be carried into the new school It is not educational vandalism.

The new school will have facilities which are badly needed by both schools and the technology in the new school will enable each and every child to receive a first class education.

The only worry I have is access to and egress from the proposed school on Yarm Road.

I do not feel Darlington Borough Council fully appreciates or has any viable solutions to the traffic congestion which Darlington faces - but that's another story - Alan Macnab, Darlington.