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It's time to stop playing games
AFTER reading your article Swinging the axe (Daventry Express, February 25)concerning Northamptonshire County Council's proposed draconian cuts in jobs and services, we should remember that every job cut is a career cut short and another drain on the public purse.
Every cut in services, be it road gritting or admissions to residential care, is potentially a life lost.
These cuts are being made to cover possible cuts in government funding. If the council gets it wrong and cuts more than is needed then careers are spoiled and lives put at risk unnecessarily.
If it fails to make sufficient cuts the council risks going bankrupt and the wholesale disappearance of jobs and services.
It is time for our national political leaders to stop playing party games with people's lives and to stand up and state, on oath, by what percentage, if elected, they will cut funding to local authorities.
They will have to come out with the same figure (no party can afford to be seen to promise bigger cuts than the others).
The local councils will then know what cuts are needed and no-one need lose their job, or their life, due to the failure of their local council to foretell the future.
Bill Adam
Fraser Close
Daventry
Too many DIY council services
WITH reference to your article Swinging the axe, I live in Woodford Halse and want to know just how much more the council wants us to DIY?
The village policing is funded by the village, now they want us to grit our own roads.
Is it saying that Phipps Road or Byfield Road would not be gritted? If so is it aware that it's about two miles to the A361? Are we to form a chain gang to grit them?
Is the council proposing to cut our council tax bill? Every year it goes up and just what are we getting in return?
Here in Woodford Halse we are not getting a lot - the road sweeping is spasmodic, when the bins are emptied they are left anywhere and the recycling boxes are smashed as they are thrown back in position, and street lights, we would like some.
If I were in a job that worked to budget, and I could not work within that budget, I would be sacked. Apparently the council only has to dip into our pockets and everything is okay.
It seems like legal highway robbery to me - if the council cannot work within budget it should be brought to account.
Personally I would prefer to drive my car along the road without hitting potholes than have a canal going through the town centre, which would be just another litter attraction for shopping trollys.
Better service for our bucks I say.
Ernest Hartley
Heron Close
Woodford Halse
Driving forward your concerns
LIKE most of us, I am hoping this extreme winter weather will not be repeated for some years, but I am pleased to confirm that your local Conservatives have ensured that local gritting routes in Woodford Halse will remain in place.
I do however remain concerned about the proposed downgrading of the A361 as Woodford Halse, which has a population of approximately 3,456 (the third largest village in the district), relies heavily on this road via the Byfield Road.
It has to be noted that a 'B' rated road is not kept up to the same standard as that of an 'A' road, so we are in effect losing a comparable service for road maintenance on our most significant route.
The Byfield Road is only just attracting some special attention from the Highways Authority, although local people are very concerned about the impact of recent development and increasing traffic.
This same Highways Authority has refused a pedestrian crossing from the recently built affordable housing development for families, who need to cross the Byfield Road to access all village facilities.
The grounds for refusal are because the road is deemed too dangerous for such a crossing as the average speed of traffic is 39mph in a 30mph zone!
I shall continue to lobby the Highways Authority on behalf of all local residents with their concerns.
Liz Griffin
District councillor
Binning tip shop could be costly
I HAVEN'T lived in the area for many years and live on the outskirts of Birmingham where the council which 'runs' our area decided to put the local recycling depots out to private running.
Oh dear! What a mistake - we hear nothing but complaints and I think the same will happen in Daventry.
I still use Daventry's tip fairly regularly for buying items even though it's a long way from where I live (I bought my stainless steel sink from there in 1987 and it's still going strong).
Everyone I know complains about our local tips and the lack of help from the staff who would sooner see you struggle than help.
They also only open six days a week now 'so the staff can have a day off'. A day off from what? They don't do anything.
If you go there with a little trailer or a van after clearing your garden out or moving a bit of furniture you have to book two days in advance.
Needless to say that flytipping has increased to such an extent that according to the local newspaper, the council has had to take on extra staff to clear it up. So what savings has the council made overall?
I really feel sorry for the people in the Daventry area as they probably have all this to come.
As for the contractors, opening a shop somewhere else, what on earth is the point as it will mean an extra journey for the customers and will require additional staff to run it. Leave it where it is, right where the locals want it to be.
I see that a group has been set up to fight the cause, well I wish you lots of luck but no-one was consulted before the decision so will they listen afterwards? I really do hope so. Good luck.
Sid Brough
Sutton Coldfield
West Midlands
I don't support a referendum
I PROTEST in the strongest terms and demand a public apology for misusing my name in the report in the Daventry Express last week of the meeting called by Bob Waldock for a referendum on the WaterSpace proposals.
I totally disagree with his views, not only in terms of wasting council taxpayers' money, but also because of the several opportunities in terms of public meetings and written comment afforded by planning law for the public to express their views on all major planning proposals.
Robert Walduck
Daventry
Why were you not at meeting?
WHERE were all the Daventry District councillors to tell us why we should support the canal and marina?
Heads down as usual. So a cold Friday night was soon warmed up by the cheers of people most of whom were of the same opinion - the marina and canal is dead in the water.
The reply in the Gusher described the call for a referendum as a 'waste of taxpayers' money' (Daventry Express, February 18). Well that is a bit rich - how much has already been spent looking at the WaterSpace?
Could somebody please tell us where these ideas come from to construct a canal arm that goes nowhere. Doesn't sustainability have to be looked into in planning terms?
We are told it's private investment but who is going to pay for its up keep in years to come?
It may well put Daventry on the map but unlike canals, which have been around for hundreds of years, ours might be hundreds of days.
I hope when our chance to vote comes that people will send the message I hear over and over - who wants it?
Ian Freeley
Via email
Create a heart for Daventry
I WOULD just like to give you my opinion about the proposal to build a canal through Daventry.
Although I do not know much about this proposal I think it can only be the wishes of a minority in Daventry.
I have lived in and just outside Daventry since 1982 and although over this time the town's housing has expanded considerably, the leisure activities to match a town this size have not.
People complain about teenagers hanging around our streets drinking, but apart from one leisure centre, which is always very busy, and the Country Park there are limited other activities for children, teenagers and families to enjoy.
I am a parent of a 12-year-old who I sometimes take ice skating at Planet Ice in Milton Keynes. Now this is quite a crummy setting with an equally crummy cafe, but it doesn't cost a fortune to go skating all day. You see toddlers on the rink with their parents, children, teenagers and couples holding hands going around the ice rink. It is great fun for all ages and there is never any trouble.
If you ask the older generation of Daventry they would love a cinema or a bingo hall.
Building a canal through Daventry may make it look very pretty, but what other purpose will it serve? It may bring in a little revenue but I suspect not on a regular basis.
I think that the town of Daventry needs a heart at the centre of it where people of all ages can congregate and have a nice time. Hopefully it will also provide jobs and regular revenue to help pay for it.
Karen Cugini
Via email
You must look to the future
I WRITE with reference to the recent letters and comments regarding the future developments in Daventry.
Firstly as to consultation/meetings, there have been several which I have attended and everyone has had an opportunity to do so.
The first in 2002 took place in the Abbey and was very well attended, including town councillors, when opinions were sought and agreed as to the content of the masterplan.
Another took place at the Daventry campus of Northampton College. More than 200 people attended, including town councillors, and in the main there was again approval of the masterplan.
Those who state there has been no consultation distort the facts.
What do we want and what is needed in Daventry, when I talk to members of our community, is better facilities, more and better shops and inward investment attracting new businesses and providing better paid jobs, thereby stimulating the local economy.
That is our aim, however if I was a businessman looking to start or move my business into Daventry, having read all the negative comments repeatedly made from certain quarters, I would certainly think twice about doing so.
Do these people not realise the potential damage they are doing to the town and its future prospects?
What we have to do is build something for our future generations, our children and our children's children. Let's leave them a legacy to be proud of.
If our ancestors had not had the foresight to look forward to the future (the train, car, engineering and many others) where would we be now?
Do not damage the future of Daventry by electing to stay in the past.
Councillor Alan Hills
Daventry District
Council
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Weather for Daventry
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -0 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: West
