Letters round up (Including UKIP are not imitating policies of any parties!)

A selection of letters sent to the Gazette this week.
Stock imageStock image
Stock image

Politics

UKIP are not imitating policies of any parties

Firstly, I must say how impressed I am that I have rattled the Labour and Lib Dems, they must be very worried!

Labour first (only because their letter was published first): We are not imitating anyone with respect to rebuilding the Pavilion.

I have seen nothing in the press or otherwise on this issue from the Labour party in Hemel. As for LA3 we have been opposing it from the start.

With respect to the NHS, this issue has been cleared up: UKIP fully supports a NON private NHS. I am on the advisory committee, so I should know.

Lib Dems: What do green belt issues have to do with renewable energy? We are opposed to building on green belt, that is our national policy. We do not accept that if climate change is real, it is due to human causes.

We do not support draconian measures that would put British business out of business by imposing carbon taxes.

As for the rest of Liberal democrat policies, they have lost every argument, especially that of the EU. They are still trying to ‘flog this dead horse’!

Remember what Nigel did to Mr Clegg in two TV debates? The Lib Dem poll ratings have collapsed and I believe that they have lost nearly every deposit at every by-election that they have contested.

This says more about what the electorate feel about them than I can ever put into words.

UKIP now has two MPs and is polling third nationally. UKIP is taking votes not just from the Tories, but Labour as well.

I think the Hemel Hempstead electorate can look forward to a very lively election process.

We have heard from the chairman of the two parties, but where are the parliamentary candidates?

Dr Howard Koch

PPC UKIP Hemel Hempstead

New bin collections

What do I pay my council tax for!?

I don’t know if you have had many complaints about the new bins and how Dacorum Council have organised the bringing in of the new bins.

We were aware that the old large green bins were not going to be collected in December, January or February so believed our last collection for this bin would be on Wednesday November 26, so we used the bin for the nearly two weeks as normal putting our recycled rubbish in it,until we got our new bins.

When our new timetable arrived the following week we saw that there was to be no green bin collection although it was still November.

We are now left with a green bin full of garden and kitchen waste that the council is refusing to empty, they say I have to either transfer it to my black bin to go as normal waste (why recycle?) or take it to the tip myself.

If the rubbish is left in the bin until February, as well as attracting rats and foxes it will start to smell and rot, the council will still refuse to collect it because it is not the ‘right’ rubbish in the bin for the new green collection.

I have had phone calls and arguments with them over this and they are refusing to do anything about it WHAT DO I PAY MY COUNCIL TAX FOR!?

They should have emptied the green bins for one last time after people had got the new bins and put stickers on them saying do not use until next year, not leave people for over a week with no new bins and in the dark about what to do with their garden and kitchen waste, its disgusting, and will get worse over the coming months.

I wonder if other people are feeling the same level of disappointment in Dacorum Borough Council’s lack of planning, foresight and publicity in the swap over of the new bins – what do we pay DBC for if not to collect our bins?

Pauline Stenton

Address supplied

New bin collections

We have a third world service

We are writing to you in frustration as we have not been able to speak to a human being at Dacorum Borough Council.

We were advised with the new bin collections that the green compost bins would not be collected in December and 
January.

However, the last collection was not made in November. After numerous attempts to contact the council we finally found a message that said the green bins would not be collected from mid-November until February.

Nice of them to let us know! Our green bins are full, they have kitchen waste in them now buried under garden rubbish and the place is still full of fruit flies.

The gardens are full of leaves, some still to come down, due to the recent warm weather. What are we supposed to do with them?

Most of our neighbours are elderly and the heavy bins are now in the street as they are too heavy to keep moving.

We spend a lot of time sorting rubbish as we are great believers in recycling, but our rubbish collection just gets worse.

What do we pay our taxes for?

My friends live in a remote mountain village in Spain and their general rubbish is collected daily, we have a third world service.

A fortnightly collection is bad enough, but this latest ‘no green bin collection for 2.5 months’ is ridiculous.

We’re fed up.

Marion Potts & David Whitfield
Address supplied

New bin collections

Council must be clear on our waste

I share Mr Massingale’s views on the new bin system (Gazette November 19).

I am a resident who is still using sacks rather than bins as I have no room for those ugly things.

However, when I was sent my letter with directions about the sacks I was no clearer about how to use them.

The letter said: ‘The sacks & glass basket will be collected on a fortnightly basis & the food waste kerbside caddy will be collected weekly’.

The liners that have been sent for this kerbside caddy are not liners at all – they are minute and not big enough for food waste. Another confusing item in the letter states that: ‘Your black refuse sacks will continue to be collected weekly’.

Please will Dacorum Borough Council make its directions clearer on their new waste collection service?

F Colyer

Highfield Rd Berkhamsted

Car parking

Holisitic approach to solve problems

I am responding to Joseph Stopp’s letter with regard to the problem of parking at Tring Station.

As a resident of Tring Station I can fully appreciate , on a daily basis, that there are parking problems.

I have to live with the consequences of commuters abandoning their cars, particularly in Beggars Lane, to catch the train.

For many years, I have expressed my concerns to local councillors, Herts County Council and Mr David Gauke MP, with regard to this problem and to the overcrowding of cars that occurs regularly in the forecourt of the station.

The area needs a holistic approach to solving the parking problems.

Unfortunately I do not feel that providing extra parking, as suggested, in the area, will help the problem.

The entire field could be covered in cars and more space would still be needed. The problem is that the London’ authorities’ and the rail companies have done an exceptional job in encouraging everyone to arrive in London by train.

The London authorities have also done an exceptional job of sending all their problems to outer areas and have thus saved themselves money.

Sadly Hertfordshire and Dacorum Councils do not have the money to respond to the problem foisted upon them.

They do not have the money to improve the infrastructure of the roads, to provide a decent and reliable bus service, which in fact is muted to be cut rather than increased.

Also it appears they are not able to communicate with Bucks County Council to provide transport across borders from Pitstone. A regular and reliable shuttle bus needs to be provided to Tring and to the surrounding area.

It is interesting that at one end of the town there are people, quite rightly, wanting to save the Green Belt, but at the other end of the town, it is suggested it would be marvellous to put a large car park in a National Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, for convenience.

This historic and beautiful landscape brings thousands of tourists to the area each year.

We seem to be in a Catch 22 situation that has been created by authorities other than our own.

A quick fix would be to throw in more cycle racks and tack on more parking spaces, but there are bigger problems that need addressing.

The problems will only increase with the proposed arrival of Crossrail.

Again, a marvellous idea, from the London ‘authorities’, but no-one has actually thought through how it will work and what the impact will be.

Moira Freeman Lea

Tring

Charity

Support DENS at our tree festival

An article in your sister paper the Herald Express draws attention to the need for DENS to raise a substantial amount of cash as well as food by the end of the year.

One excellent way to help which may appeal to your readers would be to visit the Christmas Tree Festival at All Saints Church Shrublands Road Berkhamsted.

Funds raised will be divided between DENS, the Hospice of St Francis and church community projects.

A total of 43 brilliantly lit Christmas trees, sponsored by local businesses and decorated by community groups, will fill the church and there will be musical entertainment throughout the three day event.

The church will be open from 10am-5pm on Friday and Saturday and from 2pm-4pm on Sunday. Refreshments, crafts and cakes will also be available.

All are welcome to share in this Christmas celebration. 
Programmes cost just £1, children are free.

Audrey Hope

All Saints Church,Berkhamsted

Business

Take pressure off our local traders

The article in last week’s business news raises concerns on behalf of market traders, soon to be “dwarfed” by contractors to DBC, while work on upgrading the town centre is under way.

They are right to be concerned, despite benefitting in the long run from the development, if council spokespersons are to be believed.

The Market Square is opposite Hillfield Road! This site of the long empty plot once occupied by the late, lamented Pavilion could be made available to the contractors, taking pressure off already hard -pressed businesses? Has this even been 
considered?

David Toorawa
Hemel Hempstead

Employment

Words of hope may be shortlived

The improvement in recent job and income figures announced by Mike Penning MP, Gazette November 19, is to be welcomed and I would not wish to rain on his parade but one can almost detect the sigh of relief in his words.

However these words of hope may be shortlived.

The next day after these economic figures were released the Prime Minister warned that the future is doubtful. This uncertainty is understandable.

There is a £5bn gap in the deficit and borrowing has increased.

The small increase in earnings over inflation is an average figure and therefore unevenly spread and makes little difference to the estimated loss of £1,600 in earnings suffered by workers since 2010.

I have no problem with the 
Coalition claiming the credit for economic performance if they acknowledge that it is the low paid, those trapped by the bedroom tax, disabled claimants and public service employees, like nurses, who have borne the brunt of the Government’s policies to rescue the worldwide economy from collapse caused by the dishonourable actions of the banking profession.

Les Taber

Address supplied

Dog mess

Owners must be held to account

I have been made miserable by the issue of dog mess this week.

Walking my daughter to school, I stepped in a huge pile of the foulest smelling dog faeces and spent the rest of the morning cleaning it off my shoes.

When I went to pick her up I saw a man walking a big dog in the same sort of area and watched as he allowed it to empty its bowels and carried on walking as if he hadn’t realised. When I pointed out his “oversight” all I got was foul-mouthed abuse. Something must be done.

Dawn Ketteridge
Address supplied