04/08/05

They worked hard to find out who those cowardly bombers were.

If Mr Menezes had been carrying bombs and had managed to blow up a train, no doubt Mr Troy would have voiced his opinion about that, and maybe blamed the police for letting it happen.

I would imagine it was a split-second decision whether Mr Menezes was shot. Sadly, as we know, it was the wrong decision, but in the same position what would any of us do?

The police do make errors, but I for one am so glad we have them. I'm sure in time we will learn the truth about what happened to Mr Menezes, and I'm also sure the undercover policeman, at that time, felt he had done the right thing. He has to live with this awful tragedy for the rest of his life, when he was doing his job, protecting our country. - Mrs J Stasiak, Darlington.

NOT IMPRESSED

I WENT to the highways committee meeting at County Hall to watch the residents of Albert Street, Durham, fight for residents-only parking (we have 45 spaces for about 60 houses) and to get my first impression of local democracy at work. (I am 16).

The council's case against the residents was based on a survey on space available taken earlier in the year, in which they decided which car belonged to a resident by how much dew was on the car first thing in the morning.

Collecting results in this way would not have been acceptable as a fair test in GCSE science, never mind at local government level.

I was astounded that County Hall would make such an important decision on such flimsy and unreliable evidence. What surprised me even more was that when residents were trying to present their case, some council members started talking amongst themselves, some looked bored and some walked out and came back in holding drinks.

Not one councillor asked any questions of the residents and it was clear to me that minds had been made up already and that the councillors had little time for the residents' concerns. Needless to say we lost the vote.

If this is local democracy at work, then I hope there is never a dictatorship in Durham. - Alistair Carter, Durham.

GEORGE STEPHENSON

WITHOUT a doubt George Stephenson fully deserves to have the title The Father of the Railways. There was much more to early railways than the locomotives (Echo, July 30).

It was Stephenson who convinced the proprietors that they should adopt a railway rather than a canal for their commercial enterprise to carry coal from the mines around West Auckland to the River Tees. Hence the Stockton and Darlington Railway came into being.

Stephenson planned and laid out the route of this line and oversaw its construction as its engineer, as he did later with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many other later railways.

It was originally planned to use horses to haul the wagons on the S and DR but it was again Stephenson who showed that the use of steam locomotives was the way to go by the use of his Locomotive No 1.

This machine was fairly basic and primitive and no doubt Timothy Hackworth learned a great deal in keeping it operating during his time as engineer to the S and DR, which led to The Royal George.

George Stephenson did not create Rocket on his own. It was designed and built at the Stephenson's locomotive works at Forth Street in Newcastle, so who exactly was responsible for its various features will always be open to conjecture. - J Routledge, Witton Gilbert.

WELL DONE

CONGRATULATIONS to your Teesdale bear from distant Croydon in Surrey (Echo, July ).

Years ago I campaigned in Croydon High Street on behalf of circus animals and it resulted in the council banning all circuses with animals from their land.

So good luck to your compassionate bear. - Pat Mear, Croydon, Surrey.

Good luck to the lone protestor who campaigned on Saturday to highlight the plight of animals dragged from town to town in beast wagons.

You are not alone. Animal circuses are Victorian relics. Preston people voted with their feet when the not-so-Jollys circus came to Longridge and stayed away.

Peter Jolly's idea of a sanctuary for Ming consists of a concrete cage. Perhaps one day he will put compassion before pound signs and allow the RSPCA to give her the home she deserves.

Until then we are backing the Teesdale bear. - Ian Richards, Preston Action For Animals, PO Box 357, Preston, PR7.

PLANNING PROCEDURES

WE feel compelled to write to express our disappointment with Wear Valley District Council's attitude regarding planning procedures.

In mid December 2004 we discovered, quite by chance when viewing the council website, that a neighbour had applied for permission a month earlier to construct a detached property in the grounds of his home.

None of the surrounding properties had been informed.

Fortunately, we had found out just in time and three residents forwarded objections before the closing date. A decision was not made following the deadline. Each time we rang over the following weeks to speak to someone in the Regeneration Department we were told that no decision had been made and that the case officer was not available. Eventually, we discovered that the applicant had been advised to withdraw the plans and re-submit them, which he did.

This time it seemed that procedure was being followed - however, notification was sent to some but not all residents and thus only two objections were sent in. The plans were passed.

In conclusion, we would urge all residents of Wear Valley to be aware that the council seems to follow its own procedures in some cases and is incapable of keeping residents informed, leaving them to conduct their own investigations. - Mr & Mrs N Purdy, Bishop Auckland.

WINNING SMILE

CONGRATULATIONS to Jim Caddy, the Redcar veteran athlete.

By the photo of him in Local Heroes (Echo, July 29) his smile hasn't changed since he was the bread delivery man at Dixons Grocers, Bow Street, Guisborough in 1951-52, where I worked at that time.

We enjoyed his jovial banter then and it seems he's still the same - only now he has achieved greatness in athletics.

I hope he gets many more well-deserved medals. - Betty Hodgson, Harrogate.

NAME AND SHAME

WELL done The Northern Echo for all your tremendous work regarding the disgusting case of the paedophile - winning the legal fight to name and shame him (Echo, July 27). Another battle well won.

I hope people appreciate how dedicated your staff and editor Peter Barron are to take on such a task and succeed.

Those evil monsters must be stopped from ruining children's (and parents') lives, beginning with stopping their access to the Internet, and by continuously exposing them. - Mary Armstrong, Crook.