Sir - Further to last week’s front page story on parking problems in Ampthill and comments from an unnamed passer- by that police seem to be ‘above such trivia’.
I want to reassure residents that Bedfordshire Police have always taken parking problems in Ampthill seriously and they were further identified as a priority at the very first meeting of Ampthill Community Safety Forum earlier this year.
As a result even more work is on-going by police, the Highways Agency, Mid Beds District Council, local planners and others to find a long-term solution.
It would be a great shame if these efforts were overlooked.
Residents are again very welcome to attend the next meeting, which is at 7pm on Wednesday, at Parkside Hall, Woburn Street, Ampthill.
I should add that when police officers see illegal parking, they deal with it.
PC 177 Paul Element
Ampthill neighbourhood officer
Mean-spirited mentality
Sir - As ever, John Ball is too kind to the borough council in thinking it would not have the cheek to charge a car parking tax.
There is now a charge of £2 for parking between 6pm and midnight in the open air car park at St Peter’s Street.
This operates as a penalty on those who do a full day’s work, although I imagine the point would be lost on most of those employed in the Town Hall.
People wanting to use the town’s leisure facilities in the evening are positively encouraged to park on residential streets, or worse still, spend their money in other towns.
The council cannot hide behind the argument that it has to staff the car park, which is the excuse it uses for charging to use the multi-storey which is open in the evening.
The cost of anything other than the most sporadic checking of evening payand- display would far outweigh the income.
Who has approved this mean-minded change in the regulations?
Owen Dower
Kimbolton Road, Bedford
Disastrous expansion
Sir - I write with some concern at the Government announcement on May 19 that it plans to double the size of the Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre.
I believe this would be a disaster for Clapham and the wider area and it is vitally important local residents have their say.
I fear the return of category B/C detainees – who are dangerous, foreign criminals – will put the safety of local residents at risk. We all know what happened the last time Yarl’s Wood housed category B/C detainees don’t we? We also know what happened the last time detainee numbers at Yarl’s Wood reached such levels. The 2002 riots are something we all don’t want to see repeated again.
At a time when the borough is looking to the future and looking to redevelop and revitalise its rural areas in North Bedfordshire, I believe such a decision, were it taken, would be a retrograde step and would be highly damaging to the local community.
Was the Government trying to talk tough days before an important by-election? Let’s be clear on this. The expanded facility could open as early 2010 and I will be writing to the Border and Immigration Minister Liam Byrne to seek his assurance that he will be guided on his decision by the views of local residents.
The Government frequently talks about ‘localism’, ‘community empowerment’ and ‘accountability’. I look forward to Mr Byrne’s visit to Clapham where he will have the opportunity to listen to our views.
Cllr Nigel Sparrow
Conservative Clapham Ward
Howell off target
Sir - Following the Eagles’second consecutive relegation, in their centenary year,Bedford Town chairman,David Howell, a property developer with more than eight years as de facto sole owner, has launched a Football Management Committee (FMC) to ‘give fans more say in the running of the club’.
This is in response to Bedford Eagles Supporters Trust’s (BEST) call for supporters to own and run the club in partnership with local businesses and individual investors in the future.
BEST cannot support this attempted abnegation of responsibility for the financial welfare of our town’s football team to a voluntary sub committee of willing fans over which he continues to have absolute control and veto. It simply sets up fans to fail.
In the chairman’s own words, the FMC was designed to take him ‘out of the equation’. The chairman and his family actually remain very firmly ‘in the equation’, owning most of the shares, thus having absolute control of Bedford Town Football Club Ltd and the ability to veto any decision made by the FMC.
BEST is clear that businesses and larger individual investors are the key to the town having a club capable of representing 150,000 people. It is unlikely that they will be seduced by this latest move by Mr Howell, to encourage them to invest in his company.
Terry Pavey
Chairman Bedford Eagles Supporters’ Trust
Just criminal
Sir - I was interested to note your front page article last week which reported how a knife-wielding ‘thugette’was cautioned rather than prosecuted for an armed attack which caused actual physical injury.
The police claim that a caution is sufficient as it means the attacker now has a criminal record.
Some years ago I was the victim of a motoring accident in which the offender drove off without stopping. I reported the accident to the police in Bedford who then issued me with a ‘producer’, a demand for my insurance, driving licence and related documents – even though I was the victim and had taken the trouble to report the offence.
Because I was in the process of moving house and, as a good citizen, had done the right thing and sent my driving licence to the DVLA to record my change of address, I was unable to produce my licence in time and was formally cautioned.
So clearly, as the victim of a hit-andrun accident who had reported the matter to the police, I have the same ‘criminal’ status as a knife-wielding attacker.
The upshot of this disgraceful state of affairs is that violent criminals get away with it while people like me, who would naturally support the notion of law and order, completely lose faith in the ability and priorities of the police.
Name and address supplied
Reprehensible campaign
Sir - I am writing to express my dismay at the recent conduct of the MP for Mid-Bedfordshire,Nadine Dorries, regarding her bid to reduce the upper limit for abortions from 24 to 20 weeks.
During the course of her campaign, she has behaved in a manner unbecoming of an elected MP.
In attempts to garner support, she has engaged in the promotion of a discredited urban legend as fact (the so-called ‘Hand of Hope’ myth) and accused those who disagree with her of bias and being in the pay of ‘the abortion industry’.
Worse, she has consistently used language intended to appeal to emotion rather than rationality, perhaps because medical studies do not support her position.
In addition, she has made a point of claiming that 20 weeks is the correct limit but has also signed her name in support of a motion to reduce the limit to 16 weeks.
Further, on an internet forum she stated that she wished to see the limit reduced to nine weeks, a deadline which has utterly no scientific or medical basis behind it.
One might wonder why she finds her own arguments for 20 weeks so unconvincing.
It is also increasingly difficult to tell what her beliefs on the issue genuinely are.
Abortion is a tremendously important issue and any debate surrounding it should be conducted with appropriate sensitivity and appreciation of the facts.
Nadine Dorries has made little or no effort to do anything of the kind and it is my opinion that her behaviour is not only below the standards to which an MP should be held but also dishonest and reprehensible.
It is my hope that the people of Mid- Bedfordshire will remember her conduct when she seeks re-election.
Jonathan Ward
Shakespeare Road, Bedford
Group gets my vote
Sir - The Queens Park Traffic Management and Parking Control Focus Group, led by David Beman,represents all residents and businesses in Queens Park.
The group is non-political and exists to address the concerns of the residents of Queens Park. It has succeeded in obtaining permission and road alterations in an attempt to improve access for emergency services to the area when lives are at risk.The group is non-confrontational and owes its success to the dedication and negotiation skills of its members. As a resident of Queens Park I give it my wholehearted support.
Jean Paterson
Queens Park
Clamouring to be heard
Sir - What a sad and confused letter from KS Northwood (Non-religious majority May 18).
The Christian voice is one of many today clamouring to be heard, to be given an opportunity to express its views, not always unanimously, on a whole range of subjects. In matters of medical ethics, etc, many are well read and vote as others do according to their conscience and best judgement.
Christian MPs in the Commons, of whom there are many, do likewise. They have no special privileges, neither would they want them. Bishops in the House of Lords often vote differently from each other, there is no block vote or three-line whip on them and, of course, none of the members of that House are elected – many are ‘Tony’s cronies’.
The Christian churches do not ‘aggressively’ push themselves forward. They generally seek quietly to live out their faith in their daily life, seeking to live positively and compassionately and inviting others to join them on the journey of faith, upholding the values of the kingdom of God. These can most clearly be found in The Beatitudes given by Jesus (Matthew’s gospel, chapter 5, vs. 1- 10).
John Morley (Very Revd)
The Vicarage, Church St Langford
Dangerous mix
Sir - Re Nasim Awan’s article on Palestine,I suppose we should ask if George Bush’s desire to be on the side of the Jews and against the Palestinians is due to the wealth and power the Jews in the USA have.
Anyone who has studied the history of Palestine since the Fifties should be appalled at the way its people were (and have since been} treated.
Consider if the Jews had been given part of our island and then pushed us all further north over the years of occupation.
How would we have reacted? Meekly accepting it or fight for our rights as the Palestinians have tried to do with little success? Religion rears its ugly head in Palestine as it seems to in this country according to the letter in last Sunday’s paper from KS Northwood about our Parliament.
Religion shouldn’t come into politics at all, either in local or national politics.
Anyone standing for office is supposed to represent all the constituents and their views irrespective of religion instead of having a personal axe to grind when voting.
With so many different religions it would be better to leave them for home and leisure time.
J Ceiriog-Jones
Springfield Avenue, Kempston
All wind and ...
Sir - In last week’s letter D Reeves says Labour will listen and learn.
We had ten years of Blair talking a lot of hot air, now we have Brown’s deviousness.
Listen? That lot don’t know the meaning of the word.
Up to 80 per cent of the electorate said they wanted a referendum on Europe – where is our referendum? Labour constantly blamed the Tories for all their faults in 1997. Take the 25p pension increase at 80, ridiculous? Yes, then why in 11 years of office is this not £5? The same applies to the Christmas bonus.
We hear of a bus driver earning £900 per week. How does Labour in all its wisdom equate this with a basic pension of £90 per week or even with a vast amount of luck £130 per week.
Labour has been in office for 11 years, why no action just hot air? Listen? Labour doesn’t know the meaning of the word.
Richard Sutton
High Street Riseley