Viewpoint letters (May 17,2019)

Thank you to those who turned out to vote

We would like to take this opportunity to thank those voters in Oldfield, who turned out to vote for us on Thursday, May 2.

Unfortunately, we were both unsuccessful in the local elections, but appreciate your support during this time and wish the elected candidates all the best for the future.

JOEL WHEELER and DEREK WILSON

Oldfield Conservative candidates

More consultation on the Borough Local Plan

I am deeply moved by the expression of confidence from the Furze Platt residents and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I am also immensely grateful to my family, friends, and loyal supporters who generously contributed with their time and efforts during my election campaign and on the polling day.

I am also grateful to Maidenhead Advertiser for publishing my views on the local issues during the election coverage.

I will continue to lobby and campaign to protect greenbelt, farmland and green open space (including Spencers Farm and Dorchester Close in Furze Platt) which residents fear are under threat of undesirable development.

More frequent and cheaper bus services are needed to reduce the congestion and CO2 emissions in the Royal Borough.

Residents want to see vibrant democracy by having a transparent local council, proper road surfaces, and quality homes to match the character and appearance of existing buildings in the town (not high tower blocks).

I would like to see more consultation on the Borough Local Plan.

Furthermore I agree with calls to reduce the number of petition signatures from 1,500 to 1,000 to trigger a council debate, which I feel is a reasonable request from our residents.

Once again, may I take this opportunity to thank Furze Platt voters for all of your support and encouragement over the years.

The election result did not turn out the way we hoped but I am looking forward to helping the residents regardless.

HARI SHARMA

Furze Platt  

Stop mowing grassland to protect insect life

Sincere thanks to the writer of last week’s timely letter highlighting concerns over the mowing of large areas of flower-rich grassland in various parks and open spaces across the borough (Viewpoint, May 9). 

The start of a new council administration should provide the ideal opportunity to review and fine-tune management strategies for all open spaces within its jurisdiction.

This will help ensure that maintenance plans are up-to-date and all members of staff undertaking scheduled works are fully aware of ‘best practice’ on a site-by-site basis.

Within nationally recognised typologies of open space, NSN (Natural and Semi-Natural green space) areas are of particular significance in their support for wildlife, wider biodiversity and the sustainability of all life.

Numerous parks, amenity green spaces and NSN sites such the Sutherland Grange Hay Meadow, for example, are noted in the Berkshire Conservation Strategy as ‘Flower Rich Grassland’ –  of which 97 per cent has been destroyed nationally since the end of the Second World War –  and now represented by only 0.4 per cent of open space in Berkshire.

In the UK, more priority species for conservation are associated with grasslands than with any other type of habitat. 

The decline in flying insects generally and pollinators in particular has reached critical levels, and the RSPB has continued to highlight the severely dropping levels in many bird species once common in meadows and grassy areas throughout Britain. It is hoped these observations will give the new council pause for thought and impetus to take action as a matter of urgency.

S SHEARER

Bailey Close

Windsor

Missed opportunity at Cox Green May Fayre

I was interested to see our beleaguered Prime Minister and MP Theresa May as usual attending the Cox Green May Fayre.

What a pity the newly elected Cox Green Borough Councillors didn’t take up this excellent opportunity for self promoting videos and selfies.

BILL GREEN

Cox Green

Brian Pitts fit name for new Magpies stand?

There have been a number of well-deserved accolades to Brian Pitts, one of the best club men Maidenhead United ever had.

I had the pleasure of playing a few games for Maidenhead alongside Brian and I can endorse all the good things said about him. 

Just a thought. Has the club decided on a name for the new stand yet?

JOHN HENESY

Pinkneys Green

EU membership is not crucial for UK economy

Because our Prime Minister allowed her counterpart in Dublin to make a mountain out of a molehill on the Irish border we now face elections for the EU Parliament.

The Liberal Democrats have produced a manifesto with the title ‘Stop Brexit’, thus finally dispersing their smokescreen that they are only driven by a public spirited concern to be quite sure whether or not the British people really do want to leave the EU (Viewpoint, July 14 2016, "Is exit from the EU what everyone really wants?").

The manifesto omits any mention of the EU treaty commitment to a process of ‘ever closer union’ leading to the European federation foreshadowed in the 1950 Schuman Declaration which the EU commemorates as its starting point each May 9, Europe Day, and so to the extinction of our country as an independent sovereign state.

The head of their ALDE group in the EU Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, is not so coy about that, having literally written the book about a federal United States of Europe.

It also continues to propagate the myth that EU membership is crucial for our economy, and in that context I would like to update the factual information I offered to a Liberal Democrat candidate in an earlier letter (Viewpoint, January 17 2019, “Evidence shows paltry economic gain in being part of the EU”).

The German Bertelsmann institute which previously estimated that the UK has gained about one per cent of GDP from EU membership has published a new study, entitled ‘Estimating economic benefits of the Single Market for European countries and regions’. The top beneficiary turns out to be Switzerland, even though it is not in the EU and unlike Norway it is not even in the EEA, while the UK is near the bottom.

Working through the numbers for us the (gross) one-off gain would be a mere 1.5 per cent of GDP, similar to the natural growth of the UK economy over less than a year.

Dr D R COOPER

Belmont Park Avenue

Maidenhead

Take time to consider organ donation laws

The law around organ donation in England is changing. From spring 2020 all adults in England will be considered to have agreed to be an organ donor when they die, unless they had recorded a decision not to donate or are in one of the excluded groups.

We want everybody in Berkshire to get ready for the change in the law by taking a moment to think about organ donation, making their organ donation decision and sharing that decision with family and friends.

During Dying Matters Awareness Week (May 13-19) we want to raise awareness of what’s changing from spring 2020 and the choices available to everyone. We’re asking people  to get ready for the change.

Those covered by the new law will still have a choice about whether they want to be an organ donor. Your family will always be involved to ensure any recorded decision reflects your last known decision.

Organ donation is and will always be, a precious gift and one donor can save or transform the lives of up to nine people and help many more people if they also donate tissue.

Have you decided whether you want to be a lifesaving organ donor?

If you haven’t already, please make your choice, register it on the NHS Organ Donor Register and tell your family. To find out more, and to register your organ donation decision, visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk

If you can’t find the answer to any questions you may have on the website, please call our hotline on 0300 303 2094.

ANTHONY CLARKSON

Director of organ donation and transplantation

NHS Blood and Transplant