OPINION: Letters to the editor of the Newbury Weekly News
Why are restrictions placed on common?
BBOWT has now seen fit to impose further restrictions to access to the supposedly public Greenham Common by means of fencing across certain fire breaks.
Over the past years the BBOWT has alienated and lost the support of hundreds of frequent users of the common by its draconian and sometimes threatening behavior concerning ground nesting birds.
They oft quote the Greenham Common Act as their justification for closing access to vast areas for five months of the year.
As I understand it, the significant words in the Act are ‘recklessly’ and ‘intentionally’ when referring to the disturbance of ground nesting birds.
As long as people don’t go tramping through the gorse I cannot see that either of these words apply.
Perhaps the few square metres which my dog may possibly disturb on a very temporary basis should be compared to the large acreage that the trust have decimated for some time to come.
It is of course a moot point that such an organisation as the BBOWT should be in charge of what should be a public area.
As their name suggests, their prime concern is wildlife and they seem to give little thought to the hundreds of two-legged animals that use the common for pleasure and exercise.
I am sure the latest fencing will be excused by fire risk but I have lived in Newbury for 52 years and it has never before been considered necessary.
Trevor Staig
Aintree Close, Greenham
What was consultation if not a referendum?
It would seem we have a soothsayer among our councillors in West Berks.
In his letter (Newbury Weekly News, May 8), councillor Stuart Gourley confidently predicts that “pedestrianising the town centre for longer will help” to boost the economy, enhance the environment, improve safety and encourage active travel.
Is councillor Gourley, we must ask, in possession of a crystal ball, in order to be able to predict so accurately the benefits of this scheme?
A scheme which he describes as “an opportunity to try something different” – which implies there’s some kind of problem – a burning issue which needs urgent attention.
Except there isn’t one.
Councillor Gourley sounds distinctly like someone who wants change for the sake of change – to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
He goes on to say: “The pre-trial consultation wasn’t a referendum.”
So what, then, was it?
Dictionary definition of referendum: “A vote in which all people in a country or an area are asked to give their opinion about or decide an important political or social question.”
You can call it a pre-trial consultation if you like, Mr Gourley. I call it a referendum.
And here comes his excruciatingly patronising conclusion where he glibly states: “I hear and understand people’s concerns.”
There’s a free hearing test available at the Mary Hare Hearing Centre in Parkway.
Can I suggest, Mr Gourley, given the problem you appear to have with your aural faculties, that you book an early appointment!
Richard Howell
Newbury
Why are they mowing verges during May?
What has happened to ‘No Mow May’?
I was appalled to see, on May 2, that the council had started mowing verges and green spaces around North Newbury.
I suppose I can safely assume they are doing this across the district.
Driving and walking regularly around the Robin Hood roundabout and local areas I have watched with delight charms of goldfinches, various butterflies and many hoverflies along with a myriad of other invertebrates and birds taking advantage of the abundant supply of seeds and pollen available.
Sadly no more, because our Lib Dem council chose to spend taxpayers’ money damaging the environment.
Please don’t come back with the old chestnut of ‘it might restrict visibility’ or ‘obstruct the pavements’.
None of that is true.
Unfortunately it’s just another sign of what happens when we vote in an inadequate, uninspiring and, quite frankly, ignorant political party.
Anita Knight
Kiln Road, Newbury
A4 closure making life difficult for everyone
It is startling to see the gross stupidity displayed by West Berkshire Council in the closure of the A4 to the Speen roundabout with the A34.
The revenue paid to the council and whim of the developers is placed above residents.
To compound matters, additional roadworks are running currently for Thames Water slightly further along the A4 and only on Thursday, May 15, lights placed on Grove Road for pothole repairs.
The roads around Woodspeen, Boxford and Bagnor have become rat runs for lorries, vans and cars, between 7am and 9am, difficult at times to even get into the constant flow.
This in conjunction with the madness of closing the centre of Newbury on May 19 to vehicles between 10am and 11pm is going to make vehicle travel ridiculously hard.
Newbury is hardly a hive of activity late into the evening; shops close anyway between 5.30pm and 6pm and in most cases are empty and looking for new occupants.
Even parking in the multi-story car park at the station is a battle with the council monopolising most floors and then imposing total restriction on the four/five floors reserved for council staff which are normally empty.
These floors are empty as human nature is for council staff to park from the bottom up.
Why is West Berkshire Council making life so difficult for residents, commuters and people with cars?
David Helm
Newbury
Please come and join our Thursday peace vigil
Every Thursday there is a vigil held in the Market Place in Newbury.
And each week more and more support is shown by new participants, honking horns of wishers as they head in and out of the Corn Exchange and around the local restaurants.
The vigil is held in support of peace.
It calls for peace in the Levant, specifically in Gaza.
But participants call for more.
The call is for a ceasefire, for food aid to get into the two million population, 40 per cent of whom are children.
It calls for an end to what has become an apartheid regime (reference the nation state law of Israel) and an end to the occupation of Palestine.
More and more locals have been taking the time to do their own research and most are horrified by what they find.
Should anyone want to join the vigil, to come and feel the solidarity of an ever-growing community in support of peace, the event is held for 30 minutes at 7.30pm each Thursday.
In peace.
Moz Bulbeck Reynolds
Newbury Peace Vigil
Fascinating to see town centre in 1940s
With the anniversary of the end of WW2 just past, I thought your readers might enjoy a vintage watercolour showing Newbury Broadway and Clock Tower at some time during the war period (as you will see the 1940s vehicles are camouflaged).
Many of the buildings are the same as now, although their use has changed.
The Queen’s Arms Inn is an earlier name of the now closed Clock Tower Inn.
The painting is signed (bottom right) but it is illegible.
Perhaps one of your readers will recognise the artist’s style?
John McKendrick
Racecourse Road, Newbury
