29/10/2005

This, in itself, is a good reason for not using public transport. The negative impact that some young people have on their communities cannot be overstated. So why is it tolerated?

Just over a week ago, one of The Northern Echo's columnists unwittingly provided part of the answer. She admitted that she basically had to apologise to her children for breathing and went on to explain that her sister is an object of contempt in her daughter's eyes.

What is wrong with adults. Here are two intelligent women who admit to being at the beck and call of their children and who meekly accept this degrading treatment.

In today's society young people have usurped a status to which they are not entitled. It has been surrendered to them by parents who don't want to 'scar' their offspring emotionally by putting them in their place and saying 'no' now and again.

The pecking order in many families now has young people at the top and their spineless parents way down below even the hamster. These young people then believe that they have the right to go out and treat the rest of us in the same way.

My message is, that if we do not want to see total anarchy, parents need to get a grip, be proud and be number one. - D Brearley, Middlesbrough.

SMOKING

I AM sick of people who want to spoil life for others so that they can have things their way. I am an ex-smoker, 40-a-day, but I think if people still want to smoke, let them.

If my wife and I want to go out for a meal or drink then we either accept that some places may not be to our liking because they are too smoky, so we don't go there.

Simple isn't it? It is called choice.

If the miserable people who don't like anybody else smoking all elected to go to another place which was more to their liking then either the place they have all deserted would close or change its policy or, more likely, they would not be missed and everybody would be happy. There are too many people who want to organise other peoples' lives as a mirror of their own prejudices.

If the hypocrites in power, and I do not choose this lot or the last lot, really believed that there was massive support, why not make the import of tobacco and all of its derivatives illegal?

It wouldn't be the £6bn difference between the revenue and what the proselytisers say is the cost to the NHS would it, or am I being cynical? - Dennis Clark, Billingham.

IT WOULD seem yet again the anti-smoking fanatics are to get their own way over their endless obsession with this subject.

This self-righteous brigade is never satisfied with the endless restrictions: such as banning sports sponsorships and threatening warnings on cigarette and cigar packets.

Now smoking is to be banned in all shopping malls and cinemas etc, and smoking shelters in hospital grounds are to be taken out, a cruel and uncivilised politically correct move.

I could mention many other miserable restrictions but the worst and last interference is in hard working folks' leisure in pubs and clubs. Passive smoking is a very good excuse and convenient ammunition for these fanatics to get their own way by banning even this freedom.

Passive smoking is a red herring and over-hyped for their convenience. The public are grown up enough to make up their own minds.

Priorities should be given to the dangers and destruction that global warming will bring to our world.

In many other areas of our lives we are experiencing much less freedom, which can only lead to more unhappiness and aggressive behaviour. - Name and address supplied.

COUNCIL TAX

The recent article (Echo, Oct 4) 'Council tax rise of 157 per cent in N-E', highlighted the problems in the local economy - high taxes against low earning and the high loss of manufacturing jobs.

The 157 per cent council tax increase relates to Sedgefield Borough since 1993, which averages 13 per cent per year. In Spennymoor a Band A household now pays £965 per year or £18.56 a week, Band D £1,448 per year or £27.85 per week. Spennymoor Liberal Democrats want a zero council tax increase for the next three years.

The poll tax was unpopular, the council tax is unfair and is not based on a person's ability to pay and hits pensioners and low income families; 1.8 million pensioners fail to claim council tax benefit.

The existing district/borough councils duplicate many services and are both costly and inefficient.

Local pubs suffer from taxes. A pint of beer has two taxes. The landlord pays a high business rate and council tax. In a sluggish local economy, that is why many pubs are closing.

Like post offices, pubs are an integral part of local communities. - Councillor Ben Ord, Sedgefield Borough Council, Chairman Spennymoor Liberal Democrats.

NORTH EAST ASSEMBLY

YOUR correspondent B Brown raises a number of queries concerning the North East Assembly (Echo, Oct 18).

The assembly is certainly not "entirely involved with Teesport regeneration" as asserted. It is one of the few organisations that takes a genuinely regional view on matters affecting the North-East. The assembly has been pleased to be able to support the objectives of Teesport because they will create jobs for the region and will help to relieve congestion and pollution. We will continue to support other regeneration activity across the region.

The assembly was established by the Government in 1999 and has the important statutory duty of producing the Regional Spatial Strategy. This will ensure the North-East is able to have sufficient homes and jobs over the next decade, whilst protecting our unique environment and providing for the other facilities within the region.

The assembly is also responsible for holding the Regional Development Agency, One NorthEast, to account in its use of £244m of public money per annum.

Seventy per cent of the assembly's membership comprises elected councillors from every local authority in the North-East. The remainder comes from representatives from the business and voluntary sectors, trade unions, education and a number of other significant interests. None of the members are paid; some receive travel and related expenses.

The assembly's budget is approximately £2m per annum, £80,000 of which is met jointly by the 25 local authorities in the region; the remainder mainly from the Government.

The referendum in November 2004 concerned the establishment of a directly elected regional assembly which the electorate rejected. The important work of the existing North East Assembly continues. - Councillor Alex Watson, Chair North East Assembly.