Viewpoint: High-rise buildings and election debate

Email Viewpoint letters to jamesp@baylismedia.co.uk  or write to Viewpoint, Newspaper House, 48 Bell Street, Maidenhead, SL6 1HX.

High-rise buildings and ‘clickbait’ photographs

The front page of The Advertiser on June 14 featured the grand opening of Number One Maidenhead.

A couple of points caught my interest.

Firstly, there was that photo – the development looked strangely attractive.

However, having had the misfortune to actually see the development, it reminded me of the perils present in online dating.

You know, where some rather ugly bloke, the wrong side of 60 spotty and balding, digs out an old photograph, does a bit of photoshopping and…bingo!

He looks really quite attractive and is clickbait for the ladies.

In fact, I began to wonder if that photo was of that same ugly blot on the already ugly landscape that is modern Maidenhead.

You see, rather than call it Number One Maidenhead, I think it might be more appropriate to call it Number Two Maidenhead maybe, particularly since it has been built on an already ugly brownfield site.

Thanks to the previous Tory administration, there are loads of those available in Maidenhead of course.

The developers have also, I believe, opposed and objected to the continuance of The Honeypot on the grounds that The Honeypot really is not good for Maidenhead’s image.

A classic case of the pot calling the kettle, or should I say The Honeypot, black.

However, I definitely agree with Mr de Blaby that it is far better to build upwards on brownfield sites, rather than destroy ever more tracts of this once green and pleasant land.

Just don’t build so ridiculously high and be sure to make it attractive.

In my opinion, the only example of a new local development that has actually improved the otherwise s***hole that is modern Maidenhead, is the beautiful Arches development by Michael Shanly…and it’s not too high.

MALCOLM STRETTEN

Riverside

Maidenhead

Hospice co-founder’s MBE is richly deserved

I was so pleased to hear that Fiona Devine, co-founder of Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service, was awarded an MBE in the King’s birthday honours list.

It’s an honour which is richly deserved and long overdue.

In an era where these honours are handed out to too many celebrities for just doing ‘a job they love’ and where every little achievement is boasted about on social media, here’s a woman who has humbly and tirelessly worked for nearly 20 years to fulfil her vision and deliver the first and still only children’s hospice in the whole of Berkshire, which has benefited hundreds of families and will continue to do so in the future.

Hers and her family’s perseverance, commitment and dedication have demonstrated to us all that love does prevail and that from immeasurable tragedy and pain good can come about.

I, with many others, volunteer for Alexander Devine and, like the majority of us, never knew him but because of him we all have now met some amazing people and have embarked with them on a journey to ensure that his legacy lives on.

So thank you and well done Fiona.

You believed you could…..and you did!

SILVIA LITTLE

Heywood Avenue

Maidenhead

Canada geese should be kept under control

Guards Club Park was a Silver Jubilee project of Maidenhead Civic Society, we therefore take an interest in it.

Once the home of the Brigade of Guards Boat Club, it is now the regular residence of the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), whose numbers have increased in recent years, outperforming native wildfowl in terms of breeding and by their aggressive behaviour.

Currently the paths and grassland of the park are contaminated with the faeces of this species of wildfowl. We have contacted the parks and countryside officer to ask that the park be cleaned.

Excrement from this bird on parkland is a well- known problem, as is contamination of freshwater due to its droppings.

Pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli , Salmonella and the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium have been recorded from their faeces. Residents using the park should avoid contact with the droppings, children and the elderly especially should be careful.

In America, businesses such as ‘Goosebusters’ offer safe removal of this bird.

We understand that there is control of wildfowl around Heathrow Airport to avoid mid-air collisions.

We think there should also be control of the Canada goose on our riverside parkland for both amenity and public health purposes.

ANN DARRACOTT

Maidenhead Civic Society

Please return food bins how you found them

I am fed up with finding my food recycling bin, tossed down anyhow on the pavement, usually not outside my house, but very often with broken lid/handle etc.

I have had four replacement bins in approximately eight months.

Whilst the council is always good about replacing these, I wish someone in the recycling department would have a word with the refuse collectors to ask them to please place them back on the pavement, where and how they found them and stop wasting, what is, in effect, my money and all the other residents who pay council tax on replacing these bins.

J ATTWOOD

Maidenhead

Use judgement to act in UK’s best interests

A number of correspondents to Viewpoint (June 14), make much of the local connections, or otherwise of various candidates and I wondered how much influence that should have.

The responsibilities of Members of Parliament were defined by Edmund Burke as to use ‘not [their] industry only, but [their] judgement’ and by Sir Winston Churchill, citing Burke, who characterised the position as ‘the first duty of a member of Parliament’ is ‘to do what he thinks in his faithful and disinterested judgement is right and necessary for the honour and safety of Great Britain’.

In essence, Members of Parliament are elected, as individuals, to use their judgement and experience responsibly in the UK’s best interests.

When I was the shop steward for over 3,000 computer engineers spread across the UK, I was keenly aware of being mandated by them as their delegate to achieve agreed goals, on their behalf.

When, at my fourth attempt, I was elected as a councillor in RBWM, I believed that it was my duty to use my judgement and experience for the general good, and not just for my ward residents.

I chaired overview and scrutiny panels when wider considerations were necessary and acted, I believe, appropriately,

Whoever it is that we elect, I wish them well.

CHARLES HOLLINGSWORTH

Maidenhead

Who is best placed to be part of government?

Looking around at the neglect in Maidenhead town centre, it is obvious that change is desperately needed on July 4.

The combination of 14 years of the Conservatives in Government and even more years with a Conservative controlled council, leaving behind financial difficulties, has led to what we see today.

The lack of essential shops and proliferation of nail bars, phone shops, charity shops, bistros, together with endless apartment blocks, makes Maidenhead no longer a desirable place to live.

What matters is that the Government elected on July 4 can work to bring about the changes needed to provide decent, affordable housing, improvements to the NHS, the environment and the economy, among the many others areas needing improvement.

Voting Liberal Democrat is not going to bring about change so residents need to consider, when they vote, who is best placed to be part of the of next Government and therefore can best represent what is needed for Maidenhead.

When casting their votes, residents who feel they deserve better should consider if the Labour Party candidate is going to be best placed to achieve this and vote accordingly.

NIGEL SMITH

Australia Avenue

Maidenhead

Tory candidate knows how the system works

There are candidates making improbable claims in this election.

For example the Lib Dems suggest they can fix waiting times at GPs, clean up the Thames and cut the cost of living.

How can they do anything as a minority party?

Labour claim that they can fix the economy and improve services without raising taxes on ‘working people’.

Remember these weasel words if they take power!

In contrast the Conservatives have chosen Dr Tania Mathias who works in the NHS and has spent time with the UN in Gaza and other trouble spots.

She has had previous experience as an MP and knows how the system
works.

Theresa May spent 27 years raising the profile of Maidenhead and taking action on transport, health and planning.

Dr Tania Matthias will do the same.

RICHARD KELLAWAY

Startins Lane

Cookham Dean

Population growth will lead to more problems

Seven candidates in the forthcoming election, and when quizzed about our environmental problems not one of them makes the connection with population growth.

It is a simple fact that anybody who comes to live in this country will need a roof over their head: we cannot expect them to live in tents, or sleep on park benches.

And naturally they will need food to eat and water to drink, and then they will of course add to the burden of waste products to be treated and disposed of safely.

Fining sewage companies, or banning the payment of bonuses to their senior staff, will not alter the fact that more people inevitably means more environmental problems.

Yet the party which is trying to stop the development of the golf course wants us to rejoin the EU, when 450million people would regain the automatic right to settle here.

Most people will be familiar with the concept of a ‘Ponzi scheme’, and our political leaders have been running a ‘demographic Ponzi scheme’ with mass immigration.

Dr D R COOPER

Belmont Park Avenue

Maidenhead

Tactical voting sites say vote Lib Dem here

I have lived in Maidenhead all my life – I went to some of our great schools – Alwyn, Courthouse and Furze Platt – and I am determined to make sure that Maidenhead is a wonderful, safe place.

I know how important the walk-in at St Mark’s Hospital is – when I was at Courthouse Juniors I fractured my ankle and my mum took me straight around and within an hour I was X-rayed and put in a cast.

We also need more GPs to deal with the ever increasing number of residents since the Conservatives focused all the building in the borough on Maidenhead.

And we need to reform the care system in this country with free personal care for older and disabled people.

We need a more neighbourhood-led approach to policing – with burglaries, car crime and shop-lifting being investigated rather than ignored

And we need to stop the water companies pumping sewage into our rivers – protecting our amazing local environment is so important to me.

These issues are personal to me. That is why I am standing to be the MP. I want to see these and many other issues fixed. We need to fix the mess.

This election is between myself and the Conservative candidate. Labour just cannot win in a constituency like Maidenhead.

We came second in the last General Election and first in the recent locals.

All the tactical voting sites are saying to vote Lib Dem here.

I love Maidenhead. I am standing so that I can do everything I can to protect and improve the area.

JOSHUA REYNOLDS

Maidenhead Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate

Revealing insights from parties’ manifestos

Earlier this month, I visited the Maidenhead Advertiser website to find a list of the candidates for the Maidenhead constituency for the forthcoming General Election.

I visited the websites of the five political parties fielding candidates, and have spent some time over the weekend perusing these.

From the Advertiser’s website, I saw Reform UK has not put up a candidate.

Should you be a usually-Conservative-voting person, dismayed at having no Reform UK candidate to defect to, may I suggest that you try the Social Democratic Party’s manifesto:

“Britain is not a charity ......we will end the commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on overseas aid.”

“Funds spent in support of conflicts such as Ukraine will be offset against foreign aid ....”

“We will withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) ....”

On the other hand, if you are a Conservative voter, I would recommend that you steer clear of the Green Party’s manifesto, unless you wish to test how well your blood pressure tablets work!

Looking at the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto, it seems that their editor/ proof-reader was on holiday when this was produced.

You may be among those wondering whether the event on July 4 is a General Election or ‘Spot the Difference’ competition, given the number of topics on which the Labour Party has said it will stick to the Conservatives’ existing plans.

If I may, I would quote the following:

[Labour manifesto] “Labour is committed to restoring development spending at the level of 0.7 per cent of gross national income as soon as fiscal circumstances allow.”

[Conservative manifesto] “We will return to spending 0.7 per cent of GNI when fiscal circumstances allow.”

Surprisingly, neither of these parties went on to define the phrase, ‘...fiscal circumstances allow ...’.

Just how wealthy does the sixth largest economy in the world have to be before its leaders dare to suggest to its electorate that they should slum along on less than 99.3 per cent of its income?

What example does this give to those countries not nearly so wealthy?

Do we really have no concern for our brothers and sisters around the world, who may not have clean water, let alone electricity - or Sky Sports?

‘I’m alright, Jack’ seems to be the order of the day.

Or, to quote Flanders and Swann: “O the English, the English, the English are best. I wouldn’t give tuppence for all of the rest!”

While I often end with a poem of my own composition, on this occasion the poem has already been written and indeed was a very successful song decades ago:

“The road is long,

With many a winding turn,

That leads us to who knows where -

Who knows where.....

His welfare is my concern .....

He ain’t heavy – he’s my brother ......”

JAY FLYNN

Moneyrow Green

Holyport

UK needs to be food and energy independent

Remember every penny the government spends is your money, the government having none of its own. You are involved.

There is no greater involvement than paying for it.

The cost-of-living crisis was created by Putin as an act of war.

We coped a lot better than say, Lebanon and North Africa, when food could not be exported from Ukraine.

The whole world saw food and energy prices soar.

The UK needs to be food and energy independent, we need new licences for the North Sea granted fast – we could not do that if still in the EU.

Mainland Europe is facing another world war if we Brits don't again get NATO and allies to help us stop it. Again, outside the EU we are more nimble and feared by Putin.

SUE DOUGHTY

Twyford

Tory leader still saying black really is white

Earlier this month, Grant Shapps conceded that a Conservative victory was ‘not the most likely outcome’ on July 4 and went on to say ‘let's not try and pretend that black is white’.

On the same day, Rishi Sunak insisted that the Tories can still win.

But of course he passed a law saying that black really is white when his government legislated in the face of all the evidence that Rwanda is a ‘safe’ country for asylum seekers to be sent.

RICHARD POAD

Cookham

Apples, oranges, pears, kiwis and avocados...

Mr Pinto is incorrect (Viewpoint, June 14), you cannot compare apples with apples – the direct comparison does not work.

In 1997 The Daily Telegraph was 45p and using a simple inflation calculation that would be 95p today.

My copy on Friday, the same day of publication as the Advertiser, cost £3!

In 1997 the circulation was 1,129,777 and today it stands at 317,817, which represents a 111 per cent increase in price and 71 per cent drop in circulation.

As the editor pointed out, the production costs of the Advertiser were heavily supported by massive amounts of advertising. That was the pre-digital age – now news is available to most on their smartphone or tablet.

So you are comparing apples with pears, not oranges as they are in a different genus of fruit – rosaceae for apples and citrus for oranges.

When a comparison of prices is undertaken a sample of goods is included in the ‘basket’ and the price of TVs and airline tickets has no bearing on the production cost of a newspaper whereas electricity, newsprint, ink, diesel and, not least, wages, have a direct impact on the production and subsequently, the cover price.

Now if Mr Pinto wants to compare apples with kiwi fruit or avocados that is a different matter!

MERVYN BUSTON

East Road

Maidenhead

Setting record straight on crematorium plan

My apologies: I was misinformed as to the precise siting of the proposed crematorium adjoining Switchback Road (Viewpoint,
June 21).

However, the actual suggested site is on the same side of Long Lane, where the greenbelt separating Maidenhead from Cookham is just as narrow and sensitive.

Accordingly, my objection is equally strong to any change of use or building there other than for proven, genuine, long-term agricultural needs.

RICHARD SIMMONDS

Quarry Wood Road

Bisham