Council tax? There needs to be a more fairer option
WE COULD talk all day about local taxation and the recent increase in council tax, but the bottom line is that they are just tax collection service for the county council.
I’m not defending them though as I believe we don’t actually need a local council.
It doesn’t serve any purpose for the local residents.
Look at the failings over the years.
£20million pounds given for the housing stock, now spent on redundancy and consultants.
Half-a-million on the fireworks and to top it all, over half-a-million spent on leaving the former council office empty.
Thousands spent on waste like plastic bin liners all over the district.
Sponsored bus service that no-one uses.
A political system which means that most residents don’t get heard.
We need a fairer method of paying this form of tax.
So few pay the most.
And I could go on.
Athol Deakin
Council did all it could to stop Whitford Road development
COUN Rone-Clarke says Rock Hill is getting a bad deal from the council.
The letter opens with the Whitford Road development.
The development on Whitford Road, however, was rejected by the council’s planning department.
I fail to see, therefore, why the blame is attributed to the council.
As is implicitly stated in the letter, the application was awarded on appeal.
It is against the decision the council’s committee took.
Coun Michael Thompson
Resident of Rock Hill and former councillor of Rock Hill
Traffic flow in Bromsgrove town centre needs improving
WHILST appreciating the work to improve the walking and cycling arrangements around the A38 which have attracted investment from Worcestershire County Council (WCC), is it not time to improve traffic flows in the town centre itself?
The junction between Market Street, Birmingham Road, Stourbridge Road and The Strand could be altered to alleviate queueing at peak times if the junction were moderately widened sufficiently to allow two lanes of traffic on the approaches from Stourbridge Road and The Strand.
Currently the access is one lane only, restricting the road ahead and left turning traffic from manoeuvring when the only lane is blocked by right turning vehicles.
Market Street and Birmingham Road already have the two-lane system for turning under traffic light control.
Since our own local council cannot alleviate future traffic pressure as increased house building is seen as their way forward in developing the west of Bromsgrove, the road system from this part of town will see increased traffic on Stourbridge Road into the town centre.
The Western Bypass appears to have no support from either WCC or Bromsgrove District Council so Stourbridge Road’s future appears to be sealed for the worst.
Graham Dallas
Bromsgrove
Someone needs to speak out on what happened at Artrix
I FIND it difficult to understand the silence surrounding Artrix going into administration and the value of creditor payments.
Covid was allegedly not the only reason the Artrix fell. There appears to be a failure of the trustees to acknowledge the rule of Mr Micawber in the Dickens novel ‘David Copperfield’ being:
“Annual income 20 (pounds), annual expenditure 19 (pounds) nineteen (shillings) and 6 (pence), result happiness.
“Annual income 20 pounds annual expenditure 20 pounds ought and 6, result misery.”
Charities, such as Artrix, should have drawn up a risk register and held financial reserves.
Was there a situation of the trustees failing to run the charity on a financially sustainable basis?
As to creditor payments of 22.6p in the pound was appalling.
My return was modest but friends and others lost out substantially.
Mike Marshall
Bromsgrove
Looking to find James Malachy O’Neill
I AM looking to find James Malachy O’Neill, the brother of an elderly Irish gentleman.
James (called Jimmy by his family) was born in Waterford Ireland in 1931.
He left Ireland in Dec 1947 aged just 16 and his brother has not heard from him since.
Frankie, now in his late 70s, always thought they would make contact once their lives had settled, but such was not the case.
Time passes and when you’re young you sometimes think that people move on without you and that you are somewhat forgotten, but Frankie has looked for many years and is desperate to find Jimmy.
I appeal to anyone who knew James (Jimmy) Malachy O’Neill or knows him now or any of his family, to please give them my email or address so I can make an old (ish) man very happy.
Hazel Weldon-Mack
Dublin
Ireland
Anyone with information on James Malachy O’Neill can email [email protected].
Nurses’ pay – Government can do better than £4-per-week
THE GOVERNMENT claims it can only afford a one per cent pay rise for the NHS staff.
The same people who selflessly risk their lives daily, caring for patients with coronavirus.
And some sadly have paid that ultimate price, for doing what most people take for granted.
Let’s put the one per cent pay rise into perspective.
Imagine a NHS worker earns £20,000 a year.
A one per cent rise would be £200 per year extra. That’s less than £4 a week!
Would you risk your life, working in a stressful environment, wearing PPE, for £4 extra a week? I doubt it.
Amazingly, the government did manage to find £20 extra a week, for people on Universal Credit, which would be the same as giving a five per cent pay rise to our £20,000 NHS worker.
Stop insulting the NHS staff and give them the pay rise they deserve.
T Jones
EDITOR’S COMMENT
THE COUNCIL should be praised for the new homes being built on Burcot Lane which will reduce carbon by 80 per cent.
Other proposals, such as cycling schemes and electric vehicles will also make a difference.
It seems though that councils are all doing different things individually to combat the climate emergency – some better than others – with no joined-up thinking.
A nationwide approach with strict Government targets is needed so everyone is working together to make Britain greener.
We welcome your letters…..
What pressing issues do you feel need addressing in Droitwich or Bromsgrove? Send us your views to [email protected]
