23/03/06

In this technological age Darlington Borough Council cannot accurately locate the depth of a simple gas main, not even with a pick and shovel (Echo, Mar 15).

This could be the start of many underground surprises awaiting to be uncovered with expensive consequences.

But I am sure that the council will adjust its blinkers and blunder along with a project that the majority of the townsfolk don't want.

We may bear in mind at a recent planning meeting it wasn't the townsfolk who were chosen to speak in favour of this project, it was the architect who was already engaged to design it.

Added to the cost of replacing the gas main will be contractors' charges for delays etc which could escalate the final cost towards the £9m mark for the residents to pick up the tab.

Already in Blackwellgate and Bondgate the street scene is beginning to look dull and uninteresting with a sameness like that of other towns.

The simplest and beneficial long term solution would be to abandon the project and refurbish the existing Victorian features of High Row.

Restoring our previous high quality town centre bus routes would help enormously. - L Hume, Darlington.

POLITICAL LOANS

ALL this talk about the amount of money that is required by political parties to gain power and run the country as they see fit shows what a rewarding position it puts you in if you win.

Seeking donations/loans from people who are known to have the necessary funds and who also harbour ambitions to be part of the governing sect without having to submit themselves to the requirement of telling the people what they actually stand for, has increased greatly under New Labour.

These days, if a student wishes to be educated to degree level he/she has to be able to finance their education either by family support or by taking out a commercial loan from one of the many banks or money lending companies that fill today's high streets. Why can't political parties be as open about their finances as students have to be about theirs?

This idea of the taxpayer subsidising political parties should be a non-starter from the beginning. Let all the parties borrow the money they require from wherever they can but anyone lending money should know that it bars them from future grace and favour appointments to gain access to politics through the back door. - Peter Dolan, Newton Aycliffe.

NAKED TRUTH

THE naked photo shoot volunteer, Michelle Easton, really takes the biscuit (Echo, Mar 20).

What does she expect? Respect? She chose, along with many more, to strip naked and parade around the streets of Newcastle in a manner that others found perverted and disgusting.

She chose to demonstrate a total lack of self respect and sense of decency and now complains that others don't respect her.

She, along with the others, deserves the ridicule she is receiving and should thank her lucky stars she isn't appearing in court on a charge of indecent exposure.

Perhaps she can take consolation in knowing that she is 'suffering for her art'. - D Brearley, Middlesbrough.

I READ that one of the participants in the mass nude walkabout on Tyneside is "disgusted" that perverted pictures of the event are being shown around. Really, it is inevitable that somebody somewhere will take advantage of the situation.

Nobody forced the participants to commit their act of indecent exposure in a public place, which is against the law. I am sure the complainant is proud of her body but other people might be disgusted by it and by the fact that she has not been prosecuted for indecent exposure by showing it. - C Young, Thornaby.

ENGLISH PARLIAMENT

I AGREE with Harry Mead that we need an English Parliament (Echo, Mar 15) and I suspect that there would be strong support for such a move.

But the reality is that, as far as the present government is concerned, there is no possibility of one being established.

Not because of the possible break up of the United Kingdom, but because Labour governments tend to rely on the votes of Scottish and Welsh MPs to get their legislation through and an English Parliament would almost always have a Conservative majority. - Peter Elliott, Eaglescliffe.

TROOPS' TREATMENT

HAVING watched the Tonight programme on March 17, I feel I must put on record the fact that I am utterly appalled at the way some injured members of our armed forces are being treated.

Many years ago now I was an RAF medic serving with the Second TAF in Germany. Following my medical training at RAF MTE Warton and various postings in Germany, I spent over a year at the Royal Air Force Hospital at Rostrop where I trained for my grade one qualification, after which I went to Gatow, Berlin.

It was while I was in Berlin that I also, as part of my duties, became acquainted with the British Military Hospital at Spandau.

I witnessed medical care of the highest standards and saw recoveries that were little short of miraculous, which, of course, is how it should be.

Now we hear of military hospitals being closed and service personnel being placed on NHS lists. I am horrified.

It surely is little wonder that an American doctor interviewed on the same programme was lost for words.

So now we have our soldiers and airmen being sent into combat with inferior equipment, unable to defend themselves and then, when they need it most, being unable to have the highest quality of care they have so bravely earned.

Truly, it would seem even our enemies are treated better than the finest of our own. When will we have a British government that will give first priority to our country, our people and those who serve us so well and to whom we owe so much? - G Gargett, Peterlee.

REGIONAL ASSEMBLY

RE Pies the limit (HAS, Mar 18) and the correspondent's growing concern of the debacle of the North East Regional Assembly and what he sees as a victory for the North-East.

He is entitled to his opinion, but what he does not consider is what the North-East has to offer. I don't know what the North-East in general has in mind, but I do know that Wear Valley is one of the most deprived regions in the country and unless someone comes up with some miracles we are likely to stay like that.

The concept of a regional assembly, if implemented in a way that gives us some autonomy to think for ourselves and to rid us of those who feed off our dislike for change, is something I could support.

Neil Herron got himself into the limelight on an issue about keeping to our old ways while the rest of the world moves on - not much of a credit in the way we sort out our problems.

As for the Government, their gesture towards more autonomy was what it was, a gesture that gave us nothing.

Get off your high horse, Mr Herron, and either come up with solutions or let someone else. - John Young, Crook.

ELECTED MAYORS

WHO would have thought that Councillor Frank Robson (the mayor's husband) would leap to the defence of the current undemocratic system? (HAS, Mar 13).

After all, the system ultimately results in a politically biased man (council leader John Williams) making important decisions to the detriment of the town.

The real question for the people of Darlington is whether they want the opportunity to vote for a mayor who is not politically motivated and thus would be motivated to listen to the people of Darlington. After all, if she or he didn't listen they would be not be re-elected - what greater motivation could there be?

As for Councillor Robson's comments that "the system we have in Darlington is the envy of many local authorities" - which authorities would these be?

With regard to Coun Robson's comments regarding "minority groups with a score to settle" I would remind Councillor Robson that a referendum was held in Whessoe to ask the people whether or not famous landmark the White Horse should be demolished; 98 per cent voted in favour of keeping this historic building. 98 per cent is not a minority.

Darlington Council's decision to grant permission for the White Horse to be demolished is one example of a seriously flawed decision-making process.

We are all aware of many other bad decisions that have been and continue to be made supposedly on behalf of the people of Darlington. - Name and address supplied.

DISILLUSIONED

RE Frank Robson's letter, I, as a campaigner for an elected mayor, can only assume the council is running scared.

I don't doubt his statement "all were elected on seniority grounds" because it is clear with the mayor that her affiliations, no matter how allegedly deserving, are clearly linked to the council in such a manner she agrees with everything they propose.

I feel the leader is wrong in saying we are a small group of people who want our own way.

That is simply incorrect and the numbers on the petition will reflect that change is nigh.

What we are is a town of disillusioned people with no control over the supposed democratic way in which our lives at present are ruined by the council.

So we have joined together in a fight against them simply to seek our legal right to end this sham of jobs for the boys.

Why is democracy to be feared? It's better than the mayoral system as it stands today.

Yes, they have a low council tax but not as low as it could have been.

Yes, pensioners have free travel as they should, but two good things do not a good council make. - Ian White, Hurworth.

DISILLUSIONED

YOUR correspondent Mr Frank Robson claims that the present system of an unelected mayor in Darlington is the best system and the one preferred by residents.

He then goes on to say that there are some people in Darlington who are asking for a referendum - presumably they prefer to elect their own mayor, as more and more people are wanting to do.

Nothing can be more democratic that to allow every resident to have a vote on such an important thing. Can I suggest that since Mr Robson appears very confident that it is only a minority who feel this way - have the referendum and then Mr Robson might be proved right - then again he could be wrong. - Councillor Joan McTigue, Middlesbrough.