Letters to the Editor

Station closures could cost lives

In your report of the fire on Tuesday last week at Nelson Lane. Warwick, it states that fire engines from Atherstone, Stratford, Nuneaton, Southam and Henley attended. It is also known both pumps from Leamington were on a shout on the motorway.

My question is why was the Warwick crew not called out as, on good authority, it took 19 mins for the first pump to arrive?

If there had been loss of life due to the delay of the fire engines getting to the fire, would the councillors and fire chief who rubber-stamped the fire station closures take the blame for the loss of life?

These councillors are elected to carry out the wishes of the people who elect them and public opinion was against any closures. If this happened to one of the councillors’ properties there would be uproar.

Leamington fire station has one pump, one pump escape and Simon Snorkel based there. If both pumps are on a shout we have seen what happens by Tuesday’s fire - a long response time and possible loss of life in the future.

I hope these councillors and the fire chief realise the blame could be on their shoulders if this happened. - J Wilson, Sydenham.

Travellers should pay to stay

In response to your story in the Courier, October 1, regarding travellers.

I thought the word ‘traveller’ meant just that! If they want to spend some time in any town, why don’t they use a caravan park, and pay like everyone else does?

We are the ones that have to pay for the mess to be cleared that they leave behind every time they leave.

Not only do they have total disregard for the land they use, there are always hedgerows in the countryside that are full of cuttings that they have dumped after hood-winking people into having their gardens cleared.

The taxpayer has to pay. They want to come and stay for as long as they wish without contributing, but how odd that they all ride around in brand new huge gas-guzzling cars and trucks!

I am not opposed to them having a permanent site, but they should not be allowed to stay for any longer than a month, and they should pay for the time they are here. - Name and address supplied.

Kind help appreciated

May I thank the kind people who assisted our daughter when she was knocked down by a car last Friday afternoon.

The accident happened in Warwick Street around 2pm, and the driver of the vehicle chose not to stop. Thankfully our daughter was not seriously injured, but did sustain injuries to her foot. Thanks to them all for helping. - Mrs S. Allison (email address supplied).

Congestion means it’s impossible to speed

It would never have occurred to me that excessive speed was a problem in Warwick town centre (Courier, last week). With the exception of the main roads leading in and out of the town, where speed limits are regularly exceeded, the town centre itself is so beset by traffic congestion that it is scarcely possible to exceed 5mph during working hours and weekends.

On the other hand, the proposals to limit through traffic entering the town while en route elsewhere sound much more relevant.

Many other towns have introduced measures to positively deter motorists from making use of town centres as “rat runs”, which would be welcomed by residents I feel sure. Improved facilities for pedestrians are also long overdue-in particular the junction at Northgate which represents a serious hazard for those crossing on foot, who have to brave the ‘blind’ corners on the roads that have access to that junction. - Richard Osgathorp, via email.

Thanks for making festival fantastic

After a fantastic ten days Warwick Words Festival of Literature and Spoken Word I would like to thank all of those who helped to make it such a wonderful occasion.

Over 80 events were staged at a variety of locations in the town centre with a dedicated band of volunteers and committee members without whom such a festival could not have taken place.

Funding from 28 local businesses as well as arts bodies and councils also allowed us to have guest speakers aplenty. The feedback our committee has received has been wonderful and the town has had a lovely atmosphere throughout the festival’s duration. Hundreds of people far and wide enjoyed workshops, poetry slams, plays, talks, walks, tours, competition showcases and book swaps.

Next year sees our 10th anniversary so please keep an eye out for details and don’t forget to visit our website at www.warwickwords.co.uk. We are also keen on speaking with anyone with experience or who is studying who may be interested in volunteering to help with marketing and public relations for the Festival – if so please contact [email protected]. - Adrian Field, chairman, Warwick Words Festival Committee.

Candid views on cameras

From reading Andy Thomas’ recent columns (Getting There, Courier) I can’t help wondering if he’s finding it so hard to make ends meet as a driving instructor that he’s had to take a second job as propaganda officer for the local scamera partnership.

In his latest he says “there’s no correlation between speed cameras and police numbers as they’re funded from different sources”. Actually they’re funded from the same source – the British public. And to reiterate my previous question, what would the British public rather have the police they’re paying for do – patrol on the beat or sit in expensive speed camera vans all day?

As for the line about speed cameras only being placed at sites that have a history of serious or fatal crashes or where surveys have shown there are lots of speeding motorists, this is typical of the propaganda touted to support the claim that speed cameras are for safety. But let’s take a look beyond the propaganda.

The requirement for installing a speed camera is three people killed or seriously injured in a three year period. So say you have a road with no accidents in over ten years, then suddenly a car thief being chased by the police crashes killing three people. Hey presto - a speed camera can be installed on ‘safety grounds’ even though the road has an excellent safety record and the camera would have done nothing to prevent the crash being used to justify it.

Next I’ll deal with Andy’s statement that “signs do not make people slow down”. Well research shows that most people do slow down for flashing speed warning signs – and that such signs are far better at preventing accidents than speed cameras. Not so good at raising revenue though - and no Andy, the claim that speed cameras are used as a money making source isn’t a lie because there’s worldwide evidence to back it up.

Finally, I can’t resist throwing Andy’s remark about people who ‘think they are best at deciding what speed to drive at, rather than official bodies’ back at him. Firstly, because – as Andy should know - ‘what speed to drive at’ can constantly vary due to changing road, traffic and weather conditions, and in some circumstances this can mean travelling below the speed chosen by ‘official bodies’. And secondly, because when Warwickshire County Council wasted £1 million of local taxpayers’ money introducing a lot of stupid 50mph speed limits, one of the people who criticised the move was - Andy Thomas. - Graham Bell, Leamington Spa.