Sir – I must respond to John Ball’s Diary (Bedfordshire on Sunday October 23). I am one of those people who has campaigned tirelessly against the giant Covanta Incinerator.
Mr Ball’s cheap crack at “what’s one chimney compared to 111 they used to have?” does not smack of neutrality. Doesn’t he know that thousands of bombs that hit London and other major cities in World War II did little damage compared to the one bomb dropped on Hiroshima? Does Mr Ball not realise that most people learn from their mistakes? The chimneys he refers to were closed down on health grounds – a hidden hazard unknown at the time of building.
The one chimney he refers to has the potential to poison all of us within a 20 mile limit – so laugh all you want Bedford and Elstow when our American friends who couldn’t care less about fines regarding emissions – ignite the hidden assassin.
I agree that we sound a little like nimbys when we say it would spoil the skyline and the natural beauty of the Vale – but I for one would prefer Wembley Stadium (or more than 100 harmless chimneys) cited in Rookery Pit – because I can close my eyes or the curtains.
What I cannot do is prevent toxins getting to my lungs, in our water supply, in our foodstuffs – and in every gentle breeze.
I can assure you that most of us do not share the views of Tony Talbot from Marston Moreteyne Forest Centre - who openly admits he is happy to have Covanta as his new neighbours.
Mr Talbot is right in saying RIP Marston Vale is the wrong headline - the epitaph should read RIP Bedfordshire! Should we really be paying this sort of price to dump rubbish from counties from miles around? We are in this together.
Colin Raine
Station Road, Marston Moreteyne
Covanta is a ‘health bomb’
Sir – 13,000 people in Merthyr Tydfil signed a petition against a Covanta incinerator which went to the Welsh Parliament and to Downing St. The IPC still gave consent to Covanta. The good news is that a month later Covanta backed down and decided not to build there.
Why was the opposition so strong? Could it have been because Merthyr Tydfil had experienced the Aberfan disaster of 1966 when a slag heap slipped and killed more than 100 children in a school? Here the Stewartby brickworks used to release sulphur dioxide which caused asthma and some nasty odours when the wind was in the wrong direction, so the thoughtless response is to assume that a Covanta incinerator would be like having the old brickworks.
A large incinerator produces the equivalent of 3,000 wheelie bins of exhaust gases every second creating chemical reactions from hundreds of compounds, some of which are extremely toxic: dioxins, furans, acid gases, heavy metal, particulates. Some of these are cancerous.
Isn’t there enough cancer already? The sales pitch is that there will be strict emissions levels, so don’t worry. Greenpeace in 2000 showed that all ten UK incinerators then had failed to stay within legal limits.
Covanta in the USA was fined this summer for exceeding emission levels.
There is a long term health bomb in the use of incineration. Surely Bedford citizens are smart enough to get serious about this issue without a disaster first? So what should happen? Our mayor vows not to use Covanta, while he is mayor.
That’s the spirit we need.
David Maxwell
Chaucer Rd , Bedford
Stand up and say no
Sir – It is with a sense of déjà vu that I received a letter from the department of ‘Communities and Local Government’ last week, soliciting my views on the incinerator proposed for development at Twinwoods.
Not only have I sent numerous letters, emails and petitions, expressing my horror and disgust at this proposal but, like large numbers of people in my local community, I have attended public demonstrations and sacrificed my time and energy to attend various meetings and appeal hearings related to this issue.
I am absolutely staggered that the Secretary of State is feigning ignorance of my viewpoint. . . My opinion, like that of my neighbours, is loud and clear! Incinerators are expensive and hazardous. They will leave a poisonous legacy for this area. And not all of the ‘green propaganda’ in the world will be able to wash it away.
The Secretary of State chose to bow to the dictates of the European Union when he ignored the wishes of the electorate and granted planning permission for the Covanta project. In a similar decision only a few months ago, the people of both Kings Lynn and Corby were sacrificed for political expediency.
The Government’s decision here is clear. Do what we elected you to do! Listen to the demands of your electorate! Say no to this incinerator now! It is time to set a political precedent by actually representing the people who elected you. For all our sakes, have the guts to stand up to your European masters and stop the spread of this toxic industry.
Abi Watkin,
Felmersham Road, Radwell
What is MP’s EU stance?
Sir – Does Richard Fuller MP for Bedford and Kempston want a ‘renegotiation of our membership of the European Union’ to be big or small (BoS October 30)? His beliefs about the EU, unlike those of Nadine Dorries MP remain unclear.
Stephen Lawson
Queen’s Drive, Bedford
Traffic chaos is not funny
Sir – I see the circus is in town so can anyone from the Borough Hall tell me the name of the clown who is responsible for the absolute farce that is taking place in St Mary’s Street? Not only are the shops and restaurants suffering but what about the poor motorists who sit gridlocked around the ‘work’ every hour of the day. At least he (or she) could have adjusted the numerous traffic lights to assist, but they currently cause more problems than the work itself.
How about when the work was decided, couldn’t they have arranged to complete some of the work overnight to get it completed quicker? No, I didn’t think so.
Instead of this Mr Funny is now writing his next comic piece thinking up the next daft idea to bring Bedford to a standstill. Perhaps they are looking at installing more sets of traffic lights at the end of Ampthill Road.
Mr Russell
Darlow Drive, Biddenham
Save cash on mayor role
Sir – Bedford Borough Council is, in common with councils throughout the country, seeking to make major reductions to its budget.
There seems to be one area of significant saving which has been completely overlooked. Why do we need to pay for an elected mayor? Bedford is one of only 14 authorities to elect its mayor and 12 of the others are major cities. Every other city, town and borough manages perfectly well without this additional and costly burden. Abolishing the post would save a £60,000 pa salary together with associated support costs. I would guess at a total annual saving not far short of £100,000.
The second easy area for savings is on councillors allowances. Years ago, Bedford was a thriving market town served by councillors who were all unpaid volunteers, working for the benefit of its residents. Now we pay each councillor a minimum allowance of £10,000 pa and yet, on many levels, our town seems to be in decline.
So why doesn’t Bedford Borough Council put itself on the map as a leader in innovative thinking on budget reductions? Scrap the costly post of elected mayor, stop paying councillors for doing what used to be considered a civic duty and save, annually, half a million pounds or more, all without any noticeable loss of service?
David Price
Thorpe Way, Wootton
Dog poop ruins walks
Sir - I take my little dog, she’s a two-year-old Westie, over to Marston Vale Wood End. There are two walks.
One on the right called Burton Ramsey and one on the other side of the road The Kill. The way they are set out is really good with paths to take dogs for walks among forest areas and picnic areas.
But I am disgusted with the way these walks have been abused by other dog walkers. The dog mess is everywhere. I always take bags with me, if you go to Poundstretcher you can get 100 bags for £1. I know there is only one dog bin outside on the main road and I think there should be more but that should not be an excuse for people to leave so much mess on the paths. You have to watch where you walk.
P Michel
Molly Moore Avenue, Kempston
Illegal parking crisis
Sir –We are members of the Ampthill Community Safety Group (ACSG), which champions solutions to public safety issues on behalf the people of Ampthill and nearby villages.
We want to alert drivers and pedestrians in Ampthill’s town centre – working, shopping or visiting – to the growing parking crisis.
Even now there is widespread, illegal, unsafe parking: on pavements, over yellow lines on main roads and at junctions. It will get much worse with the developments of Ampthill Heights, Greensand Woods, The Limes, Warren Farm, and Swaffield Close, which will generate hundreds of extra cars.
It is little known that developers have no responsibility for the knockon effect in town centres of the extra cars their development will bring.
This is precisely the case in Ampthill.
That responsibility lies with local authorities, who could have access to funds from the government’s New Homes Bonus. However, money cannot buy space that is not available, and our Georgian town centre is already at bursting point for parking.
Hence the crisis.
We encourage all of those in Ampthill and nearby to ask our elected leaders and officials: Just where will we be able to park safely in Ampthill town centre when all these homes are built?
Helen Armitage, Peter Dowing, June Hutley, Lloyd Hynes, Tim Norman, John Plummer, Chris Yates Ampthill and Maulden.
Put student results first
Sir - I found it strange that in an article about the state of the schools system in Bedford Borough (BoS, October 23), no mention was made of the results being achieved by our children and young people.
While some seek to sow confusion, fear and uncertainty over structures and political debates, surely what matters is the quality of education our children are actually receiving. The latest GCSE and A Level results show that real improvements are being made, with a significant rise in the number of children achieving five A* - C grades at GCSE, for example, and record results in our schools at A Level. How sad that this gets overlooked, when we should be celebrating the achievements of our young people and working with schools to build on this improvement even further.
Councillor Anita Gerard
Liberal Democrat Children’s Services Committee Spokeswoman,
Bedford Borough Council
