Letters: June 16, 2016

Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters.

Plan receives support

WROUGHTON’S residents have overwhelmingly supported our Neighbourhood Plan. Last Thursday over 40 per cent of residents turned out and voted, which is high for a referendum of this type, with nearly 90 per cent supporting the Neighbourhood Plan.

This result demonstrates that Wroughton’s community supports a modest amount of new development, which can help provide the starter and affordable housing we need, provided it is appropriate to the village’s needs, on previously developed land and does not unduly expand the village settlement boundary.

The team that put the Plan together, in consultation with Wroughton residents are delighted with the support the Plan received at the referendum.

I now ask that those developers who are interested in building housing on greenfield land to the east of the village respect the clearly stated wishes of the Wroughton community and turn their attentions elsewhere.

In particular I hope that Hannick Homes will now withdraw their appeal against a refusal of planning permission for land to the east of Marlborough Road and that Ainscough Strategic Land will decide not to implement the permission they have, which they won on appeal, to develop land at Berkeley Farm.

This would demonstrate that both companies respect the wishes of the communities in which they wish to develop housing, rather than simply choosing sites on the basis of achieving the maximum profit.

STEVE HARCOURT

Member of the Wroughton Neighbourhood Plan Working Group

....

Vote to take control

I SEE your regular correspondent Mike Spry has been busy with his ‘rusty tripewriter’ (sic) again (Protecting the rich, The Adver, June 10).

I do not propose to argue with him over the claims by the Labour or Tory contingent in the Brussels parliament but do wonder why he did not mention the largest British group there, the UKIP with 24 MEPs elected? By contrast Labour has only 20 while the Tories have 19.

It is something that the media in general should be reminded of too since UKIP has hardly been mentioned in the referendum debate despite being, arguably, the party most involved with it.

Mr Spry argues that the Brexit campaign is more heavily funded than the Remain one, a point I dispute. Is he forgetting the £9.3 million of taxpayer’s money the government wasted on ‘booklets’ to promote the ‘Remain’ cause plus several other ‘mailshots’ of the same kind from the BSE? I have seen nothing of that sort from Vote Leave.

But where Mr Spry really needs a ‘reality check’ is his suggestion that the British contingent in Brussels has any kind of ‘influence’.

There are a total of 751 MEPs and we British have a total number of just 73. Even if all our MEPs voted the same way (unlikely) our ‘influence’ is under 8 per cent and when it comes to the highly influential commission it drops still further. We have just one commissioner from 28 (3.6 per cent).

The ‘Remains’ are fond of talking of British influence; the reality, as anyone can see, is that we have virtually none!

Much better to vote ‘Leave’ and take back 100 per cent of control over our lives.

GREG HEATHCLIFFE

Okus Road

Swindon

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No backing for Brexit

I SEE Greg Heathcliff gives a long list of businessmen supporting Brexit. No doubt they think this will protect their profits (and why shouldn’t they?) and the jobs of their workers.

Hold on a minute, does he give James Dyson’s name and didn’t Dyson sack all his workers and move production to Malaysia? Well, he’s someone with the best interests of the British at heart.

Should I now recant my lifelong-held belief in Europe and and start supporting Brexit?

Nah!

STEPHEN THOMPSON

Norman Road

Swindon

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Cameron’s out of tune

WHO do you think you are kidding Mr Cameron

If you think Old England’s done

We are the boys who will stop your little game

We are the boys who will make you think again

Mr Boris goes off to work each day – on his little bike

And he gets home each evening and he’s ready with his mike

So who do you think you are kidding Mr Cameron

If you wish to remain

‘Cos we’re all voting BREXIT and you should do the same

(To the tune of Dad’s Army)

RAY GORNALL

Barbrook Road

Swindon

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Car parking disgust

WE WOULD like to give our support to Val Hemens on her letter of June 4, and to express our disgust at the car parking situation when visiting the Wyvern theatre.

We too have a disabled badge and park in one of the few spaces opposite the theatre and we too have to arrive very early. Because we need to be so very early, we usually have a meal beforehand which makes it an expensive evening. As far as the Arts Centre is concerned, the seats are so uncomfortable we cannot go there.

In fact, car parking is bad for disabled people all over the town. We used to be able to park at the bottom, then the middle, and then at the top of the town but no more. We cannot shop in the town now as we cannot walk so far from the car parks and it is not always convenient to go to Shopmobility.

We also heartily agree with Val when she says that no-one will flock to a new museum.

As far as all the letters regarding the EU are concerned, doesn’t anyone realise that regardless of the outcome of the referendum, it has already been fixed that we stay in? What we really need is a revolution, but as we are in our 70s we are too old to do anything about that!

TRISH MAXWELL and JENNIFER KIRBY

Swindon

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Army camp experience

FURTHER to the serious problems at the Deepcut army camp, what a tragic mess.

I was stationed at Kimberly HQ years ago. On the camp were male soldiers, WRAC female soldiers and civilians.

During my 17-month stay there were no serious problems.

The camp was easy going in those days, and officers and other ranks were content to keep it that way.

It was a group HQ in those days, so the officers’ mess was crowded.

Funny things happened, and serious things. That’s life!

A soldier was on guard duty after midnight. Saw a light on in an office. Went in to investigate and found an officer on an unofficial exercise with a lady. All three of them froze briefly, then the officer barked at the guardsman, “Get out!”.

It never went any further, difficult to say what army regulations would make of that situation.

MAX NOTTINGHAM

St Faith’s Street

Lincoln

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Wish for independence

THE Roman Empire dominated Europe for over a thousand years.

It eventually collapsed because within every nation there is a yearning for independence.

The fall of the Roman Empire led to freedom and democracy in Europe.

However benign an empire might be, countries are always happier and more prosperous when they are independent.

Britain has a chance to vote for independence on June 23.

STEVE HALDEN

Beaufort Green

Swindon

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Others follow suit

I REALLY don’t think it’s down to the morning breakfast news to enlighten the public about all the other fully paid-up member states, eight including Germany and France whose own public are demanding an in or out referendum to follow ours.

Over the past few weeks we have had the Prime Minister, every high flying MP, MEP Uncle Tom Cobbley and all telling us to vote in or out but not one them has had the nerve to spill the beans about all the other countries in the EU whose inhabitants are demanding a referendum which tells me again and again all these 27/28 countries are not happy being in this one-sided club.

If the general public of these eight countries are happy being in this super state, why do they want an in/out vote?

It’s clear it does not work – it may work for the one per cent who get richer and richer by being in it.

The rest of us, according to most MPs, don’t matter.

Maybe the answer is the in-brigade Prime Minister thought if the oinks don’t know about the other countries asking for a referendum, it won’t sway the vote to out. Too late, Mr PM. Or if we keep it quiet until after our referendum it won’t matter then it will be too late, just keep it quiet...

One last point I would like to make is if the 650 MPs in Westminster have to vote the result of the referendum through Parliament and the vote will be a resounding out vote and you turn that vote to stay in, start looking for a new job. That, ladies and gentlemen, is political suicide and we the backbone of this country will not stand for it – be warned.

JOHN L CROOK

Haydon Wick

Swindon