Published: Friday, 7th November, 2008 3:52pm

Observer letters - November 7

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Keep it local

Week after week one reads the dull repetitive letters of the next Conservative MP for Slough.

Slough's own Sarah Palin is so incredibly negative in everything she writes that her letters are an excellent cure for chronic insomnia.

When Diana Coad was elected as a local councillor most people thought Slough's next Tory MP would be interested in local matters.

Instead all Diana does is moan and groan at the Labour politicians in parliament.

Few if anyone in parliament sees Diana's letters. How is her tremendous negativity helping our town of Slough? I don't think it is.

Local people would like councillors to question the policies, activities and spending plans of Slough Labour who are now running our borough but

Diana's is strangely silent about everyday matters affecting Slough's 160,000 or more residents.

Having chosen to become a councillor Diana and her councillor husband Peter Dale-Gough really ought to make a bit more effort dealing with the problems in Langley St Mary's ward. I know Langley is a 30 minute bus journey from Burnham where Diana lives, but if Diana can't afford the bus fare to Langley I'll willingly give her the return fare.

The sight of Diana walking through the streets of Langley in the cold and rain will bring smiles to many residents pleased to see both their Conservative councillors have popped-back to England for a few weeks from their much warmer home on the holiday island of Cyprus.

Paul Janik

The Slough Party

Candid cameras

I have a possible solution for the anti-social issues in Burnham.

If all the shop-owners and private homeowners who already have CCTV installed, re-directed one of their cameras to look out on the street as well as protecting their own properties, the value to the community would be enormous at no extra cost to the parish precept.

I understand that we are at a stalemate with the cost of installation and maintenance of CCTV in Burnham.

Everyone would appear to like the idea but do not want to pay any more. There would only be a few cameras installed and they would not be monitored ‘live'.

If, however, the above idea was adopted there would be far more coverage and the potential to identify the culprits in a larger area than is currently proposed would therefore be very beneficial for more residents in Burnham.

I would therefore urge anyone who currently has CCTV cameras installed to think ‘outside of the box' of protecting only their own property but by simply adjusting the coverage and moving say one camera, protection would be offered to more.

Surely this simple cost effective idea would be in the interest of safeguarding and part of the ideal world of care in the community!

Edwina Glover

Eastfield Road, Burnham

Friends of the earth

We cannot just be fair-weather friends of the environment or we risk an environmental and economic disaster worse than the credit crunch. It is important we live within our planet's means.

Sir Nicholas Stern's report pointed out the economic cost of acting was small compared with the cost of doing nothing. Now is the time to show leadership; stopping the third runway and focussing instead on high speed rail links would be a good start. However the growing cost of runaway carbon emissions is beginning to choke the world's economy and the environment.

Deforestation, degraded soils, polluted air and water, and dramatic declines in numbers of fish and other species are but a few damaging effects of our current lifestyles. Previous generations who fought two world wars against tyranny and to defend a British way of life must be disgusted with this current Government's dithering; appeasement of the coal industry is not an option.

The recent Living Planet report showed that the human race's current ecological footprint was 30 per cent greater than the world's potential. However, just because our lifestyle is unsustainable does not mean we must become Luddites.

Some modern technological improvements would significantly reduce our use of resources.

Home working, renewable energy free from carbon emissions, increased rail funding, reducing our use of paper (yes it is finally happening) and increased recycling rates all would make a contribution to change. Liberal Democrats have long built environmental considerations into our policies; we know that being environmentally friendly need not be economically damaging. We need to invest in our future and our children's future today. If we adapt, we can benefit from being leaders of the green economy tomorrow; if we wait, our children will pay a high price.

Leadership starts with vision and the will to succeed. Recently in Slough, the Lib Dems brought a motion to council, which will lead Slough Borough Council to becoming carbon neutral. If we are focussed, history has shown, British people have what it takes.

Cllr Duncan Buchanan

‘Proud to be a Liberal Democrat'

Foxborough ward

Slough Borough Council

Restrict the money

I was interested to read the comments (Readers' forum, October 31) by the Conservative candidate for Slough, Cllr Diana Coad, criticising the appointment of Peter Mandelson and describing this Government as morally bankrupt. However I believe that many people have understandably lost faith in the whole political system, not just one politician or one party.

If politicians are to regain trust, one part of the answer surely lies in trying to take ‘big money' out of politics. Whenever politicians accept large donations, there is always the suspicion that the donor expects something in return.

In the US we have seen obscene amounts of money spent on the presidential election; I therefore suspect that whoever has won will be in the pocket of big donors.

Liberal Democrats are proposing strict limits on individual donations and on the amount parties can spend over the course of a parliament.

I will be very interested to see if the other parties support these proposals. I rather suspect their addiction to ‘big money politics' is too strong.

Chris Tucker

Parliamentary Candidate for Slough Liberal Democrats

Where there's a will

With the current financial uncertainty, many of your readers might feel now is a good time to make sure their finances are in order.

Making or updating your will is a big part of this, as it can be a reassuring way of making sure the future is secure for your loved ones.

As well as providing for your family and friends, it is also a chance to make a lasting contribution to charitable causes.

But many people find the prospect of making a will daunting. This is why World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has developed a Personal Will

Organiser - which has easy-to-follow information on how to go about making or updating a will.

We are offering a free Personal Will Organiser to the first 100 readers who call 020 7343 4205 and quote ‘media.' To find out more about WCRF and our legacy programme visit www.wcrf-uk.org/legacies

Chris Stevens

Legacy Manager

World Cancer Research Fund

Deadly disease

We at the Meningitis Trust are delighted to have the support of top band, the Fratellis, who are helping us to raise vital funds to continue our work. The band pledged their support after a loyal fan, Calum Macleod, lost his life to meningitis, aged just 12.

They have donated several valuable items, including a signed guitar that Jon Fratelli played in the Chelsea Dagger video, to be raffled off in aid of us.

We are asking people to dig deep and enter the raffle, knowing that regardless of whether they win, they will be making a huge difference to the lives of many people who are struggling to cope with the impact of meningitis in the UK right now.

The raffle will be drawn on December 8, which would have been Calum's 14th birthday. With tickets costing just £2 each, Calum's family hopes that the raffle will raise over £50,000 for the Trust. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.meningitis-trust.org/Fratellis/fratellis-raffle.html

Meningitis can strike in minutes and kill within hours. We are hoping that the raffle will not only help to raise funds for us, but will also raise vital awareness of meningitis.

With as many as 500,000 people living in the UK who have had either viral or bacterial meningitis and up to one adult in every four knowing of someone who has had meningitis, our ongoing work is much-needed. However we are completely reliant on voluntary donations to continue our work, so fundraising such as this raffle is vital to our future.

Sue Davie

Meningitis Trust - 01453 768000

www.meningitis-trust.org

Hot and bothered

I DO hope that Slough Borough Council's bonfire and fireworks night is a success. Given the perilous state of finances across all institutions in the country at the moment it can ill-afford another financial disaster such as the Jools Holland concert.

However, am I alone in thinking there has been too much of a fuss about the bonfire at Upton Court Park? When I and my family go to these events it is not to see the bonfire but rather the fireworks and frankly, you don't really need to be there as all the action takes place 150 feet up in the air!

I don't really see the point of bonfires. They are not that exciting and just become a hazard if there are any gusts of wind whipping up the hot embers and sending them in all directions. It will be interesting to see (assuming the weather is good) what the numbers will be this year and whether or not the bonfire makes that much difference in the grand scheme of things.

Name and address supplied

We've bin framed?

Can we have a reassurance through the columns of the Observer from Slough Borough Council that they, unlike half of councils throughout our ‘United' Kingdom have never used anti-terrorist legislation to spy on local citizens - for instance, putting out bins on the wrong day.

Mike Paxton

Paget Road, Langley

Appalled and concerned citizen