OPINION: Letters to the editor of the Newbury Weekly News
I believe more of our roads should be 20mph
20mph is much needed.
I have the greatest respect for John Gotelee (Newbury Weekly News, September 19), but I do feel this time I must disagree with him on this matter, having recently spent a couple of weeks in Wales on a holiday.
I drove though lots of towns and villages and would agree they went too far.
I was impressed by how many drivers kept to the limit, even on roads one wouldn’t expect a 20mph limit.
There are so many roads in the Newbury and Thatcham area that would be a lot safer with a 20mph limit.
I often see cars and vans driving though urban streets at speeds, I’m sure over 30mph passing parked cars, making no allowance for the unexpected.
I’m sure John and others will say the same drivers would exceed a 20mph limit. True, but hopefully by less and most wouldn’t.
As John says, being hit at 20mph has a much better outcome than 30mph.
My 40 years in the ambulance service (now retired) has proved that to me.
In our street alone we have known of a couple of accidents over years and quite a few close calls, which is worrying as we have a school nearby with young children coming and going to the school.
I am very pleased to read the council may make some roads in Newbury 20mph and hopefully more soon.
Sidney Cripps
Paynesdown Road, Thatcham
Town’s Heritage Week events were a delight
The recent well-organised events around Heritage Week have opened a window for local people to discover more about the rich history which has created the town and community which we know today.
Access to iconic local buildings and Newbury Town Council’s series of heritage walks has been ably supported by Newbury District Field Club’s history day talks and the fascinating day re-imagining Donnington Castle.
However, away from the formal ‘official’ functions, it is a delight to see the pride with which other local people themselves acknowledge our heritage and pay their personal tributes to the momentous events where Newbury has played its part in shaping the nation’s history.
Two such re-enactors from the English Civil War Society turn out every year at dusk to hold a brief ceremony of remembrance to the many people whose blood was spilled on the fields of Wash Common on September 20, 1643, fighting both for the Royalist cause under Charles I or for Parliament, led by Robert Deveraux, the Earl of Essex.
Many people pass the Falkland Memorial or use the roads that carry the names of the notables on both sides without any awareness that the 1st Battle of Newbury is now regarded as one of the ‘fulcrum’ engagements of the entire civil war.
The day’s fighting turned on a knife edge and, had things turned out differently, would have possibly ended the Civil War here at Newbury, with the result that our country would have become a very different place from that, which despite all its current problems, gives us the rights and freedoms that we enjoy today.
A beautiful sunset on the plateau overlooking the battle’s epicentre at Round Hill saw a number of local people, dog walkers and youngsters, join a brief impromptu ceremony and gain a moment’s insight and reflection into the impact of the fighting that enveloped Newbury three times during the 17th century.
Martin and Jacques, you do our community in Newbury, and your illustrious forebears whose memory you espouse, a great service, and we salute you!
Dave Stubbs
Wash Common
All new homes should have solar panels
Whether you believe or not that the world is going to melt in the next few years owing to fossil fuel emissions, it seems but a small matter to mitigate such an effect by installing solar panels where possible.
Not for our planning supremos though is this cost effective provision desirable, as demonstrated recently with a chapel conversion in Hungerford and now the Pound Street development in Newbury.
‘Visual clutter’ to the roofscapes must be avoided lest our aesthetic gaze be assaulted not by the hideous generic design of boxy uniform housing but glazed panels that miraculously turn sunlight into energy.
Labour need to legislate that all new housing has solar panels if emission targets are to be met and planners need to move into the 21st century in terms of what works to curb global warming and not what Pevsner might have approved of.
Tom Brown
Gore End
I still think Linkway is simply a vanity project
I would like to thank Mr Phillips for enlightening us on for whom the Stockcross Limited User Linkway was intended to be enjoyed by (Newbury Weekly News, September 19).
It is, he states, for ‘casual cyclists’ only – not sure how you classify a casual cyclist – maybe the dress code is an open-necked Hawaiian shirt and flip flops with a French beret at a jaunty angle.
I will keep an eye out for them.
It is therefore in his eyes forbidden for racing cyclists to even consider using this smooth pothole-free cycleway – far safer for the poor souls to risk life and limb on the roadway with traffic passing at speeds up to 50mph as you come out of Stockcross village.
He goes on to say that with regard to ‘inconsiderate and downright dangerous behaviour of motorists alike, what can we do?’.
Well, what we must not do is wait for another cyclist to die on this busy stretch of road, and I would suggest a 20mph speed restriction – rigidly enforced by Thames Valley Police – for all villages in the West Berkshire area to go a long way to mitigate this problem.
Mr Phillips also states the Linkway is a safe route for the residents of Stockcross to walk to The Hare & Hounds, but how do you tackle this on a cold, wet winters night as much of the Linkway is unlit and you also have the busy A4/A34 roundabout to negotiate?
This is also surely a problem for schoolchildren from Speen attending Stockcross Primary wishing to cycle to school.
Because of the scarcity of sightings of users of this pathway, be it walking or on two wheels, the majority of these journeys in my opinion are still by car.
Also I would have thought that any pedestrian/cycle pathway should be a benefit for all it serves, not just the sole residents of Stockcross travelling one way towards Speen or Newbury.
But indeed, why would people living in Speen bother to travel to Stockcross as it no longer has a pub or viable post office as amenities any more.
I still think this whole scheme is either a wasteful vanity project for a tick box council or more sinisterly a Trojan horse for more housebuilding in the fields of Stockcross – be careful what you wish for Mr Phillips as sometimes you reap what you sow.
Denis Devaney
Baydon Road, Wickham
More use could be made of squash courts
In response to councillor Foot’s letter (Newbury Weekly News, September 19), I would like to bring his attention to the fact that the proposed development at Northcroft Leisure Centre offers nothing new to the Newbury area.
There are sufficient gym and studio facilities in Newbury, and public funds should not be spent on competing with commercial businesses.
The current facilities are not used to capacity and there is no justification for increasing their size.
With regards to the average usage of one hour 45 minutes usage per day.
Squash courts are multifunctional spaces, capable of being used for racketball, yoga, pilates, meetings, kickboxing and more.
The lack of usage is a failure of Everyone Active, not of the facilities.
If Everyone Active used them as multifunctional spaces and held squash and racketball classes in the same way as other activities, the courts would see more usage!
The proposal to use Kennet Leisure Centre in Thatcham (actually 4.8 miles from Northcroft) is only viable for those that live in east Newbury and have access to a car.
Removing the facilities at Northcroft removes opportunity for the majority of residents in Newbury and the surrounding area.
The current £4.6m proposal using public funds has not undergone any sort of assessment by the council, never mind value for money or community impact.
The squash community is also still waiting on Freedom of Information requests made on July 21.
Tom Westerman
Newbury Squash Club
We need a new blister pack recycling facility
Does anyone else miss the plastic blisterpack recycling facility that was available at Superdrug prior to it’s closure last year?
Imagine how many thousands of these items are discarded every year in West Berkshire alone.
I have been unable to locate any other such facility in Newbury.
Three libraries in North Oxford are trialling a system (Terracycle bins), offering the chance to dispose of this waste plastic responsibly.
For more information on this see BBC news link https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1w7vz31zqpo
Apparently, recycling these packs would result in the manufacture of items such as garden furniture and pallets.
I have written to Newbury Library asking if it is possible for them to initiate a similar scheme.
They did look into it for me, but their reply confirmed that WBC do not provide such a service for recycling these items and have no immediate plans to do so, citing that the mix of plastic and foil make it difficult to process.
I feel this is a missed opportunity to turn something wasteful into something useful.
Diana Mudge-Davies
Newbury
