www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk
June 13, 2008 MERCURY M 9LETTERS Brussels should help
repair our bad roadsI
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Hertfordshire Mercury, The Media Centre,
40 Ware Road, Hertford, Herts SG13 7HU, fax (01992)
526645 or email mercury@hertsessexnews.co.uk
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sARE we not all missing a
trick or two over how to
raise the cash needed to
repair our dilapidated highways
and byways?As letters each week reveal, our
local roads have now taken on a
Third World appearance with our
county councillors now seemingly
unable to finance proper repairs
other than to plug the endless
potholes and broken edges with
anything other than the odd bucket
or two ofasphalt.
Despite years ofinflation-busting
increases in every level ofstate and
local taxation from council through
to the ever-rising rate ofcar duty,
our local authorities are no longer
able to conduct proper repairs let
alone make a start on building all
the new roads needed to support
the massive over-development
unelected quangos are intent on
forcing upon our already
overcrowded corner ofthe British
Isles.
Given that Euro-regional
assemblies like our very own EERA
(remember voting for one ofthese?)
appear to be making all the
running in local infrastructure
planning, why don8217t we begin to
play them at their own game.
We could begin by getting our local
council to join forces via their
European offices to lobby our real
8216Government8217 in Brussels for some
help in bringing our dreadful road
systems back up to the much
higher standards we now see in all
other parts ofthe European Union.
It is not as ifwe haven8217t paid our
dues. We taxpayers have been
pouring hundreds ofbillions into
its coffers for years now without
any material benefit whatsoever
back here at home. Surely a little
8216pay-back8217 is long overdue.
We should have more than a fair
chance ofsuccess when
considering that many ofthe tens
ofthousands ofnew homes
destined to be built on greenfield
sites around Harlow, and all the
satellite towns that will doubtless
spring up around an expanded
Stansted, result directly from
pressures caused by the huge influx
ofuncontrolled immigrant labour
from Eastern Europe oflate.
Local residents do not want this
wanton destruction ofour local
rural habitat 8211 far from it, ifall the
correspondence in the
Mercury
is
anything to go by.
So why not make a small start in
trying to recoup a little ofthe huge
sums we have wasted in recent
years or are we going to have to put
up with taking our lives into our
hands every time we try to
negotiate our dreadful local roads.WILLY DUNN
The Croft
WaresideTown pond needs
a daily clean-upFOR years we have been asking
Stevenage Borough Council for
a full-time gardener, as we used to
have.
The council still employs two good
gardeners, so why can8217t they be in
charge ofthe town centre gardens
and Millennium gardens?
The gardens would not end up in
such a state, the pond could get a
clean-up daily and vandalism
would perhaps decrease.
It8217s a pity the judges for East Anglia
in Bloom don8217t see the town centre
gardens, only the beautiful
roundabouts, which are paid for by
private enterprise.
We used to have two fountains in
the pond, but the only fountain
working is the one by the Clock
Tower in the town centre.
Should we get some hot weather,
the pond will have a 8220refreshing
odour8221!Mrs C J SAINT-LEITNER
Silam Road
StevenageTime for Brown
to ban ageismRESEARCHfrom Help the Aged
shows that many people are
worried about how society will treat
them once they turn 65.
I am not surprised by that. Older
people are too often dismissed by the
rest ofsociety and are frequently
the butt ofjokes and disparaging
remarks.
Ageism is more than jokes though.
The daily reality can be more
sinister and can sometimes mean
the difference between life and
death. While age discrimination is
still legal, older people can be denied
access to medical treatment simply
because they8217re 8216too old8217. This is a
moral outrage in the 21st century.
The Government has proposed an
Equality Bill in the next Queen8217s
Speech. There8217s now an historic
opportunity to get ageism outlawed.
Please write to Gordon Brown at 10
Downing Street, London, SW1,
demanding legislation to ban age
discrimination.
I would urge people ofall ages to
support the Help the Aged 8216Just
Equal Treatment8217 campaign by
calling 0207239 1982 or visit
www.helptheaged.org.uk/
takeaction.
Time is running out. Please take
action on behalfofall older people.JOHN PILLAI
Vicarage Causeway
Little AmwellUNSIGHTLY:The pond at Stevenage Town Centre Gardens is in need of a
daily clean-up, according to correspondent Mrs CJSaint-LeitnerSew flower
seeds for
loved onesIAM writing to let your
readers know that June 21 is
Memorial Day, when, at World
Cancer Research Fund, we
remember those who have lost
their lives to cancer.
This year we are marking
Memorial Day with our
Wildflower Appeal by asking
people in the local area to
plant seeds in memory ofa
loved one. People can also
make a donation to our cancer
prevention work for Memorial
Day in remembrance of
someone they have lost.
The money raised will help
World Cancer Research Fund
continue to fund its research
into cancer prevention. To
make a donation, you can visit
www.wcrf-uk.org/memorialday
or call 020 7343 4205.TERESA NIGHTINGALE
Head of fundraising
World Cancer Research FundThe high cost of
parking fees?INOTICED in the Mercury
there was an advertisement
by East Herts Council for an
8216enforcement and
administration manager8217 to
lead a team 8216delivering the
council8217s parking enforcement
and related services8217, based in
Buntingford.
The possible salary was more
than 16331,000 with a pay award
pending.
The council imposed charges
on those parking in the
Bowling Green Lane car park
earlier this year, but is now
spending that extra money on
additional staff.
It makes me wonder ifthe
council would need extra staff
ifit was to scrap the charges.DEBBIE LEMAY
East Herts PeopleTHIS Carers Week (June 9-15)
harc 8211 the Hertfordshire
branch ofThe National
Autistic Society (NAS) 8211 would
like to raise awareness ofthe
difficult reality faced by
families ofadults with autism
in Hertfordshire.
Many adults with autism
currently receive little or no
help; 40 per cent live at home
and are heavily reliant on their
families, who often display
great strength and resilience
while coping with this complex
disability.
The NAS I Exist
campaign has
found that more than 75 per
cent ofparents do not receive
any support from their local
authority in the role they
perform as carers and are
under considerable stress as a
result.
Autism is a serious, lifelong
and disabling condition and,
without the right support, it
can have a profound and
sometimes devastating effect on
individuals and families.
We urge people in
Hertfordshire to support the
campaign and visit
www.think-differently.org.uk
to help put pressure on local
authorities to do more to
transform the lives offamilies
living with autism. LAURENCE GRIFFIN
Branch officer
harc 8211 the Hertfordshire branch
of the National Autistic SocietyHome care costs
have rocketedWITH regard to the article
in last week8217s Mercury
(8220Anger at care failure8221), I
should like to point out that the
cost ofhome care has increased
by almost 40 per cent.
My 88-year-old mother, because
she has some savings,is paying
16316.48 per hour for her care.
She has had a couple ofmissed
calls since Care UK took over
and, as a result,she is paying a
considerable amount more for
an inferior service.ANN WARING
Via emailPlease support families
who cope with autismwww.hertsandessexobserver.co.ukHave your say on
our forumwww.hertfordshiremercury.co.ukwww.hertfordshiremercury.co.ukwww.hertfordshiremercury.co.ukwww.harlowstar.co.ukHave your say onHave your say onour forumour forumHave your say on
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