28/10/05

Police nationwide rely on the co-operation of those members of the public who seek a certain quality of life, deploring crime and the miscreants who administer it.

The 'new' communications system is absolutely hopeless, telephones ringing and ringing with seemingly nobody to answer.

Result: telephone put down, another frustrated member of the public unlikely to try again.

All this talk of a single force encompassing Durham, Teesside and North Yorkshire is very worrying. Not only will you still not get through on the telephone - if you do the person on the other end will have no idea where the hell you are and how to get there. - Robert Bridgett, Shildon.

ANNIVERSARY

AS we come up to the first anniversary of November 4 when (and I will never tire of saying this) 78 per cent of North-East people voted against the assemblies, I think we should have a celebration - something along the lines that the 'Yes' campaign would be having had they won.

We all know that they went ahead and had them anyway, but the one thing they won't be doing on November 4 is celebrating a win.

So how about writing to our MPs asking for another referendum, but this time for a vote for a Parliament for England?

It is six years since Scotland and Wales got their independence, it is time the English got theirs. - Eleanor and Henry Justice, Campaign for an English Parliament, Gateshead.

EDUCATION REFORMS

TONY Blair says he will see through his education reforms, and perhaps we will see through them too. The form of choice offered will mean yet more congestion on the roads, more greenhouse gases and a system that grinds to a halt whenever petrol is in short supply.

That is even before allowing for the round of extra-curricular activities and gatherings that parents taxi for.

Instead of more choice between schools, I suggest giving greater choice within schools. The pay system already recognises that some teachers are more equal than others.

I visualise a sort of annual hiring fair at which teachers and pupils form the classes of their choice for each subject. With pay linked to the number of pupils, parents and children would strike a balance between class size and the perceived quality of teacher.

For their part, teachers could trade workload against salary. They would be free to turn down disruptive pupils, making the profession far more attractive.

There would probably be teachers to suit most varieties of pupil, some possibly with Parachute Regiment experience. If some children are too determinedly repellent to find a strongly academic match, this may be fortuitous, as we still need people to clean toilets. We shouldn't be asking our foreign guests to do this now and we can't expect them to go on doing it forever. - John Riseley, Harrogate.

RAILWAY BRIDGE

I THINK that if a bridge were to be built over the railway at North End, Northallerton, it would be the greatest mistake ever made in the town.

Imagine a great concrete monstrosity dominating the town and consider the noise of traffic climbing the inclines intruding on the lives of residents for hundreds of yards around.

The only really sensible solution to Northallerton's level crossing problem is to reinstate part of a scheme drawn up as long ago as 1901 to build a new railway from Zetland Bridge in Brompton. This would abolish all level crossings in the town and would also free up a large amount of land for sale and development.

It is not generally known that Network Rail also has a problem with congestion at Northallerton and this would solve their problem too.

Surely it is not beyond the wit of the local MP to arrange a meeting between Hambleton District Council, North Yorkshire County Council and Network Rail and knock a few heads together before an unsightly and expensive palliative is applied to a problem which could be cured completely with a little co-operation. - Jim Sedgwick, Northallerton.

THANK YOU

I WISH to give my most grateful thanks to the couple who came to my rescue Friday morning, October 21.

I found myself alone and locked in a shop in the Cornmill Centre, Darlington, until I attracted their attention.

The gentleman stayed outside the shop while the lady went to find the supervisor who came and quickly got me free.

My most grateful thanks to her too. I cannot explain how relieved I was and hope never to find myself in that situation again. - Name and address supplied.

FRED TRUEMAN

I AGREE with the choice of Fred Trueman for inclusion in Sir Bernard Ingham's new book, Yorkshire Greats, The County's Fifty Finest (Echo, Oct 10).

Trueman was an outstanding Yorkshire and England cricketer. When he made his England debut against India in 1952 I remember John Arlott, in a radio commentary, describing Trueman as the fastest bowler England had produced since the war.

Once, in front of a huge crowd at Scarborough, I saw him take a hat-trick in Nottinghamshire's first innings and, in the match overall, he took ten wickets. - LD Wilson, Guisborough.

ID CARDS

THIS wretched Government is ruthlessly determined to ram through the ID card bill.

If enacted, the relationship between Government and citizen will reverse the roles of master and servant.

The nightmare visions of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell are about to become reality. We will become a surveillance society.

Apart from the fact that we, the citizens, will be required to purchase this licence to breathe at great cost (various reports estimate we will have to stump up anything between £100 and £300 per card) it is the civil liberties considerations that are of infinitely more concern.

Despite wise counsels advising that ID cards will in no way protect us from terror, identity fraud will still be possible and illegal immigration will continue unchecked, onwards they go.

Of course, the Government will not allow little things like facts to get in the way as they barge through this draconian legislation.

In the months ahead there will be justifiable anger from all parties and groups that value liberty. This anger must be turned into action - namely defeat for the Government's plans.

As a closing observation, who will bet that the proposed UK ID cards will not bear a Union Jack symbol but rather the blue and gold circle of the stars of the EU?

Everyone should be questioning the real motive behind ID cards. Trusting this Government would be an act of supreme folly. - Dave Pascoe, Press Secretary, UK Independence Party, Hartlepool Branch.

NO PEDESTRIANS

NICK Wallis (HAS, Oct 12) is typical of the unlistening Labour council. He ignores the complaints of bus passengers and the reduction in passengers. He ignores their concerns about the chaos and safety.

They feel it is an accident waiting to happen. As one person said to us at the Saturday rally: "Are they waiting for someone to get killed before they do something?"

He ignores the fact that the bus companies are unhappy with the system and are talking about reducing services, and the town centre shops who are seeing a loss of business.

He ignores our proposal that, in addition to the bus station, there should be an environmentally-friendly shuttle bus to the town centre, making it more attractive to the bus companies.

Together they make it possible to introduce park and ride schemes. It would be impossible to have additional bus services with the existing system.

With this Labour Council we will finish up with a pedestrianised town centre and no pedestrians. - Brian Fiske, Press Officer, Darlington Liberal Democrats

BUS FARES

IN AUGUST, and prior to that in June, I spoke to the transport section on two occasions of experiences I have had in the past 18 months with public transport.

In the main, it is the less well-off who use public transport, people with less than £95 a week - women shopping with young children, people on pensions who are not on old age pension, and the unemployed.

Fifty pence to go one stop, 90p to go four small stops, nearly £4 to go across town and back to the health centre - it's absolutely awful.

Just to go from the station down Woodland Road can cost £1.60 if you don't get the right bus.

There are problems all over town in getting access to certain places, such as West Cemetery, Broken Scar etc. Aren't people without transport entitled to get to these places.

Last year they stopped Christmas and New Year transport at 5.30pm, it prevented an awful lot of people from seeing their families whey they most needed to, and made prisoners of people who are forced to stay at home and watch everyone else enjoying themselves on TV.

Pedestrianisation? Move the chaos from one end of town to the other.

I believe what we want is a dual carriageway around the north side of Darlington, taking it away from Haughton, Woodland Road, Cockerton etc. - M Merry, Darlington

PLIGHT OF ELDERLY

I AM at a loss to understand why residents living in the Coniscliffe Road area are being penalised by the so-called improvement for shopping in this town.

Has any thought been given to the elderly endeavouring to lead independent lives in the community for as long as it is possible, coping courageously with painful complaints as their bodies become less flexible with ageing joint problems? Why do we have to walk towards the Stone Bridge area to journey home by bus from the town, laden with necessary groceries to keep body and soul alive?

How can the brain power running the council allow this ridiculous situation to arise?

We need help from our elected councillors, otherwise their many meetings to make decisions which benefit the community are non-existent.

I shake my head with disbelief that Crown Street, Houndgate, Feethams and Priestgate have become accident-prone areas never intended for transportation purposes.

I ask that serious consideration is made to provide an easier option for homeward bound, tired, elderly people to return to the Coniscliffe Road area - thus preventing them from becoming totally housebound because they lack the extra energy to walk towards the Stone Bridge. - A very concerned senior citizen

HIGH ROW

THE Local Government Ombudsman has appointed an investigator to look at the complaint against the council. I see from the council's latest publication, Winter Time in Darlington 2005 (more bread and circuses) that they are still economical with the truth when they say "the scheme reflects something what High Row was like before 1901". The council well knows that this is not true.

Before 1901, there was a cobbled slope from the footpath of High Row down to, what was then, the Great North Road. There was a cast iron post and rail barrier, which can now be seen in Victoria Embankment, to keep the sheep and/or goats from straying.

The carriageway of High Row is too paved with setts. Who likes walking on setts? That is not pedestrianisation - it is the destruction of a focal point in the Town Centre Conservation Area.

The council did not comply with the regulations in that it did not hold a public meeting and did not consult with the electorate. It did not think that complying with the regulations was "warranted". - John W Antill, Darlington

DIM VIEW

I recently received a housing survey from Darlington Borough Council. Starting to read it, I had to check that I had my correct glasses on because I just could not believe what I had just read.

It stated quite clearly "this is very important and we need to hear from you to make your views count".

Don't make me laugh - since when have the views of the people of Darlington been made to count?

The views that the majority don't want the High Row vandalised, the beautiful old White Horse Hotel should be left alone, the ill thought-out Hurworth School project, to name but three that this council in its infinite wisdom will no doubt steamroller through, irrespective what the views are of Darlington residents. - D Harrison, Darlington

QUEEN STREET

THE council is preparing to build a new shopping development at a cost of £90m in the Queen Street area.

The logic of this escapes me. There are so many empty shops in the town centre - why build more?

There are vacant sites in the Cornmill (at least eight), Queen Street, Bondgate, Skinnergate etc. Add to this the countless for sale/to let notices, something is amiss.

Dressers, empty for more than four years, will shortly be opened by Waterstones. However, as HMV, parent company of Waterstones, is bidding for Ottakar's, we can expect another closure. Primark has bought Littlewoods and is unlikely to keep both premises open.

I understand that three well-established traders are leaving the indoor market, and the outdoor market is but a shadow of what it used to be.

The desecration of High Row and the shambles of the transport system means that hundreds of shoppers will not visit the town centre.

The councillors and officials in the town hall must be oblivious to what is happening to the town.

However, it is the arrogance of Councillor (John) Williams that I find unacceptable. At the recent meeting of the Town Centre Forum, he said: "You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs."

This was in response to concerns raised by business people who are bearing the brunt of the council's action to the town centre.

What he could have said: "We're all right Jack - we've got seats in the lifeboat." - R Elliott, Darlington

ONE WAY

WE don't seem to hear any praise for the new one-way routes from anyone but the council, who don't want to understand what the public and the bus companies are telling them, that the new one-way system is unworkable for the buses and is seriously detrimental to pedestrian access within the shopping area.

Pedestrian crossings at the tops of Tubwell Row and Priestgate are really essential to help the shoppers and the disabled on their scooters. After all, what is the point of a pedestrianisation scheme when problems like these remain unresolved? Buses still go too fast up Priestgate, so suggestions would be to install speed humps and excess speed indicators that light up when traffic was travelling at more than 10mph.

There has been plenty of publicity on TV and in the local newspapers that highlights the problems that have been created by the council. So, when will the council take notice of residents who elected them or at least take some expert advice to resolve the problems that they have caused as a result of their actions.

I am quite sure that the situation will get worse when the construction work begins on High Row. - L Hume, Darlington

ENIGMATIc MARKERS

THE evenly-spaced yellow markers on pavement curbs in the middle of Darlington are enigmatic.

Their most likely use is to reinforce the meaning of the double yellow, no parking lines along the gutters. But surely it should not be necessary to stress what has always been a firm rule? However, if this is what they are for, why have them at bus stops? - Charlie Emett, Darlington