Hear All Sides

Speed cameras and fines on drivers breaking the speed limit do very little to reduce it.

With modern technology, these speed cameras could be replaced with devices which could send out a signal when vehicles enter a restricted area which will be received in the drivers' cab if they are exceeding the limit, a steady bleep for those just over the limit increasing in volume to an ear-splitting shriek for those well over the limit.

There are receivers available for drivers to make them aware when a speed camera is in operation, so why not make it compulsory on the MOT that all vehicles should be fitted with a restricted sounding device which may reduce that 3,000 deaths and many more injuries? - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

COUNTRYSIDE MARCH

THE objective of the demonstration to be held in London on September 22, organised by the Countryside Alliance, has little to do with hunting foxes.

It has everything to do with causing public disruption on a grand scale in furtherance of a general attack upon a government which has performed better than any Conservative government at any time in history.

I am neither for nor against hunting foxes with dogs, but we are a democracy and we elected a government to create laws by which we abide.

It is this consensus which brought about the demise of bare-knuckle prize fighting, cock fighting, bear baiting, using live hares at greyhound races, sending small boys up chimneys, hanging, drawing and quartering hapless thieves and so on.

The issue of hunting foxes is to be determined by a free vote in the House of Commons.

Some leading Tories will support the abolition of fox hunting. Some leading Labour members will oppose it. Surely that is what democracy is all about?

If civil disruption is to be caused on September 22, then the police should re-use the powers they used to restrict the movement of striking mine workers during Margaret Thatcher's reign. - Alan Benn, Bedale.

WHEN 100,000 people attend a meeting in London for the "liberty" to terrify and slaughter Britain's' wildlife, they will not be truly representative.

They will be as a grain of sand on the beach compared with the majority staying away.

As with bear baiting and other cruel pastimes, hunting with hounds is going to be banished despite the objections of a tiny group of people trying to stick to an antiquated feudal system in which they imagine they can ride rough shod over the mass of opinion.

It is typical that the word "liberty" is used in their campaign an example of their misinterpretation.

This is not about the legitimate employment of thousands, it is about the selfish part-time casual leisure pursuits of a minority of people whose full time earnings are made elsewhere. - G Wild, Richmond.

EURO REFERENDUM

IN the most recent issue of Sedgefield Borough Council's pamphlet, Inform, there is a section requesting all people eligible to vote to ensure they are on the electoral roll.

This - and I quote - "will entitle them to vote in the forthcoming May elections to elect council members for the borough, town and parish councils and to possibly vote on replacing the pound with the euro."

Isn't the latter item just a little premature? Recent reports issued by the Treasury state that a referendum on the euro is not expected to happen for up to three years, so why is the SBC so eager at such an early stage to embark on what should be a national issue rather than a local issue?

I understood that the euro referendum issue was to be the subject of national debate prior to any vote being taken. Has this been changed, or is it simply that the SBC is privy to some inside information that has not yet reached the office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer? - R Waite, Spennymoor.

CHEWING GUM

IS it not possible for the powers that be to cut back on the despicable habit of chewing gum adorning our footpaths?

Is it not feasible to level an added tax to its sale? The proceeds raised could be distributed to the councils who go to the trouble of eliminating such eyesores.

I can hear all and sundry condemning this idea as a non-starter, but petrol can be re-taxed within minutes with no bother. - FD Wyles, Normanby.

RAILWAY MUSEUM

THERE have been a number of reports referring to the building, in Shildon, of an offshoot to York's National Railway Museum.

In these reports it is always pointed out that this joint venture, between Sedgefield Borough Council and York's Railway Museum, is funded by Lottery and Government grants.

However, there has been no mention of the £600,000 to be contributed in 2003 by the ratepayers of Sedgefield Borough. Neither has there been mention that, in conjunction with Shildon's existing Timothy Hackworth Railway Museum, an operating deficit of £250,000 per year over the first five years is expected.

These losses, to be split 50/50 with York's Museum, could be greater if the anticipated visitor count of 50,000 a year is not reached.

Shildon does have a proud place in railway history and this can be shown, and further developed, through its Timothy Hackworth Museum.

The new scheme will generate eight jobs, along with some income from tourism, but the extra burden on Sedgefield Borough's ratepayers, coming on top of a 19 per cent increase in council tax over the last two years, is an expense we should reconsider. - K Thompson, Liberal Democrat Councillor, Middlestone Moor.