The man in charge should shoulder responsibility

SIR – How dare our MP Patrick Hall complain about the salaries of the new council officials (T&C, May 29). It was he who has been advocating unitary councils and it is he who should shoulder the responsibility, and the blame, for these very predictable excesses.

There will be no overall saving of money and I suspect a big diminution in the quality of service which we will receive.

Then we have Mayor Branston washing his hands over the decision of the electoral boundaries. Mr Branston, you are the man in charge, you take the responsibilities for the actions of the council.

Graham Wright.
by email

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Wrong for MP to promote his own faith

SIR – Your correspondent Mr A Rome misunderstands the thrust of my original letter (T&C, May 29). If he would care to look at the list of witnesses who were invited to give evidence to Alistair Burt's
committee, he would find no humanists but plenty of Christians.

No wonder then that the answer is "more faith", especially the
Christian faith. Surely using one's position to promote one's own faith is wrong. MPs who confuse their faith with the public interest should stand down.

KS Northwood
Armstrong Close,
Wilstead

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Doomed projects could cost us very dear

SIR – I fully agree with Mrs Wood's contention that eco-towns are just part of Labour's social engineering, but there is much more to it than that (T&C, May 20).

The lunatic stampede by all main parties, in obedience to EU directives, to spend countless billions on projects that could well turn out to be virtually pointless and a massive economic and social
disaster is frightening.

Consider:

** 1998 was the hottest year in recent history and global warming may have stalled.

** The world is actually getting slightly cooler. Data from
meteorological institutes show falls in global temperatures in recent months, and sea ice in the Antarctic is the highest since records began.

** All politicians are terrified to tell us of the 31,000 – yes, 31,000 – scientists who have signed a petition stating that greenhouse gases actually benefit the environment. It states 'there is no convincing scientific evidence that shows that human release of greenhouse gases is causing, or will in the foreseeable future, catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere or disruption of the Earth's climate.

There is increasing evidence that any climate change we may
experience will be due to natural cycles.

Even if we fully implemented the Kyoto process, together with the EU directives (which will never happen as there is no way we can get China and India to cooperate) the effect in 100 years would be negligible.

In the meantime all this demented rush to be 'green', without
considering the green lobby may have got it wrong, is going to cost us dearly. The EU directs that we mix 2.5 per cent of bio fuel in our petrol/diesel, rising to 5 per cent in two years.

They insist we convert forest and agricultural land to crops for
bio fuels instead of food at a time when millions are starving and our own food bills rocket. The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) hands out free permits to power companies to pollute – if they don't use their allocation they can sell the balance to companies that want more.

The Carbon Commission reported that profits between now and 2012 will reach £60 billion (UK £5-12 billion).

We are also never told of the rapidly rising cost of going 'green' that we will all have to meet.

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is now panicking because the
estimated cost of its vast off-shore wind farms plans has grown by £100 million in three months. In compliance with the EU, the Government plans to produce 33 gigawatts of power by (unreliable) wind farms by 2020 at a cost of £40 billion. This has now risen to £80 billion.

There is a grave danger we are pouring truckloads of money into doomed projects that will hugely damage our economies and our children's and grandchildren's future.

Mark Adkin
Putnoe Lane, Bedford

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Traffic lights would solve bridge problem

SIR – Thank you for publishing the information about Bromham bridge (T&C, May 29).

Do you know what will happen to the bridge during the consultation period before the final decision is made in March 2009?

I am neither a resident nor a frequent traveller to Bromham but, what about this? Put traffic lights at both ends of the bridge, this will then mean that one lane can still be used for traffic wanting to travel east or westbound, relatively unhindered, and then allow the other lane to be shared by pedestrians and cyclists.

I live on the outskirts of Watford and have seen something similar to this put in on a bridge over the old railway line in Vicarage Road (WD18) and felt that it works very well.

Graham Rees
by email

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Water waste of a precious resource

SIR – As I write, water is gushing out of the road in front of my home in Spenser Road, Bedford. I called Anglian Water on May 30 to inform them and they said the problem was reported on May 28.

To my amazement the person I spoke to said that it was not as
straightforward as turning the tap off but a "plant work" and they have to turn the water supply off and inform residents.

I enquired how and he said by letter! I told him this would take ages and in the meanwhile there is a huge amount of wastage. I was assured that it would be fixed by Monday, June 2. It's now Tuesday, June 3 and water is still gushing out and I cannot believe the wastage that is taking place.

R Krishnan
Spenser Road, Bedford

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Where 'feeding rubbish monster' plan fails

SIR – This week has been national recycling week, so it was ironic that the Unitary Council Implementation Executive has found itself discussing county council plans for an incinerator near Stewartby.

I don't understand why the Tory-run county council is pushing for the incinerator option. It is far from the greenest means of dealing with waste, even if it generates electricity in the process. Other options for dealing with waste that involve mechanical and biological treatment (MBT) can give more than twice the amount of CO2 reduction.

But before we even get to that stage the reduction of waste and increased recycling must come first. And, this is where this particular incinerator plan really falls down. To keep the average running costs down, the plan is to build not the minimum needed locally, but a facility that will need to import waste. This can only serve to work against recycling, as pressure would mount to provide enough waste to "feed the rubbish monster".

I am pleased that the Executive agreed to the Lib Dem proposal that MBT and other options had to be fully assessed as an alternative to incineration. This is an issue that I am sure we have not seen the last of.

Coun Michael Headley
(Lib Dem) Putnoe
Bedford Borough Council

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Confused over recycling plastic ... you will be

SIR – Last week, I had a note put through my door from Beds County Council – noting that I had put plastic packaging in my recycling bin. That was fine by me, I thought I must have put something I ought not to have put in my recycling bin.

I have been trying to be green; my wife would just chuck anything in the black bin and that's it – who cares where it goes. So with education, with a little bit of encouragement, with lots of love, (and three years later) we have managed to recycle more than we did before.

Plastic lasts hundreds of years, so plastic, you would hope, would not be one of the things the county council didn't want you to put in a black bin. Unfortunately, they only like plastic bottles. No plastic meat trays – which are made out of the same plastic as certain bottles, no plastic wrapping, which may be the same plastic that makes drinks
bottles.

"No plastic other than bottles," I was told.

Why? – I asked – and was told: "It would confuse people."

I'm confused, I tried my best to recycle, now I have to throw plastic into landfill.

Name and address

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Easy way to avoid getting parking tickets

SIR – I am sick and tired of these 'nothing better to do' whingers who rant on and on about the injustices of parking tickets. It is easy to avoid them, park responsibly.

They keep talking about technicalities, well here is a point of law they may not feel comfortable with.

If someone parks across a dropped kerb outside your property, unless the council has erected a no-parking plate, and please note, one has to be erected at each individual dropped kerb, then parking wardens cannot enforce a parking offence.

So, if these barrack room lawyers do have an access to their property and some anti-social driver blocks them in, don't call the council, sort it out yourselves! Can you imagine what a street like De Parys Avenue, Bedford, would look like with signs erected at every dropped kerb, never mind the expense?

Tom Currie
Castle Road, Bedford

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Don't pick and choose laws you want to obey

SIR – The infamous 'angry of Cheltenham' brigade are quick to complain when criminals get off on technicalities, yet run about screaming when they notice a faded yellow line or sign the wrong height, and expect to achieve the same.

Get a life, park properly and don't pick and choose the laws you want to obey.

M Reece
Moulton Avenue, Bedford

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Join campaign for free prescriptions for all

SIR – I am writing to support Macmillan Cancer Support's campaign for free prescriptions in England. No one should be in a position where they can't afford to pay for their prescriptions, yet for one in ten cancer patients aged 55 and under who have to pay for their prescriptions this is exactly what happens.

The Government is due to publish a consultation to review prescription charges soon, but they have already said they are not prepared to spend one extra penny on prescriptions. This means that any reform will inevitably involve some patients losing out – in effect, robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I am extremely concerned that this consultation will be nothing more than tinkering with an inherently unfair system and call on the
Government to make prescriptions free in England.

Miss Mary Gray
Abbey Square, Turvey

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MS therapy centre funds

SIR – A permit was granted to Tracy Day to hold a collection on behalf of the Beds and Northants MS Therapy Centre in Bedford town centre on May 17 when £622.25 was collected. There were no expenses. Grateful thanks to all those who supported us.

Tracy Day
Fundraising co-ordinator

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World record holder Michelle walking tall

SIR – On behalf of all her scouting friends, may I congratulate Beaver Scout Leader Michelle Frost, of the 101st Bedford Scout Group, on her magnificent marathon world record on stilts.

The Guinness Book of World Records has confirmed her award for completing the distance in eight hours 25 minutes, the first person to do so.

World records don't come very often to Bedford and I am sure the town can be justly proud of Michelle's hard-won achievement. It has taken her ten years of dedicated effort and almost 12 months of early-
morning training sessions to build up the stamina she needed.

But Michelle deserves an even bigger thank you for the £7,000 she has raised for the REACH charity that has helped her disabled sister Samantha.

Next year we are all hoping Michelle will be on her stilts once more to defend her world record.

Graeme Watt
District Commissioner
Bedford District Scout Council
Abbott Crescent, Kempston

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Bottle banks potential hazard for dogs

SIR – In the vicinity of various bottle banks, I continually notice small fragments of broken glass. I have heard that veterinary staff have remarked upon a number of dogs which have had had to be treated for injuries caused by glass.

All, when walking their dogs, should avoid bottle bank areas. On occasions I have also noticed fragments of glass causing a hazard on footpaths too.

AH Green
The Buntings, Bedford

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Strong leadership will determine our future

SIR – The new Bedford unitary authority presents a great opportunity to start anew with a team dedicated to providing the best needs of the community.

Perhaps the Bedford Mayor should appoint a management consultancy to appoint the appropriate staff, coupled with seeking members of the public who would become future elected councillors.

Strong leadership will determine Bedford's future, and there are good signs there are potential savings to be made from Coun Tricia Turner, leader of Mid Beds District Council, who suggests the new Central Beds authority would make savings of around £11 million.

So why the delay? Our new unitary councillors should be elected now.

Ian Pettit
Risborough Road, Bedford

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Hospice funds

SIR – May I express our heartfelt thanks to the people of Ampthill for their support during our Hospice Sunflower Collection last week in aid of Sue Ryder Care St John's Hospice? A collection at Waitrose, in Ampthill, raised £413.51 with £20 expenses.

Joy Cooper-Watson
St John's Hospice,
Moggerhanger

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Doomed pigeon's lucky escape

SIR – I live in Mid Beds and am in Bedford town centre several days a week. On a recent visit my hearing dog Pip led me to a wheelie bin in St Paul's Square by the Piazza. The lid was open and inside was a young pigeon which could not get out as it did not have all its flight feathers. I lifted the bird out and put it on the rear seat of my car which was parked nearby and drove home.

I wanted to give this bird the chance of life but had a dilemma as to where to put it until visiting a close neighbour who put it in his greenhouse.

Well, after two weeks fed on the very best corn and other foods, the pigeon grew its full body feathers and we decided to release it from the five-star hotel where it was residing.

We named him Lucky, and to our surprise Lucky came back the next morning and has done so every day since, answering to my friend's call and still feeding on the best. It gives you a good feeling to think a little care has helped this creature survive.

As I write he is sitting the roof opposite!

SJ Tidd
The Brache, Maulden