LETTERS: What you have been writing to us about this week

Thank you for kindness

I AM writing on behalf of my mother June to thank the people who waited with her for an ambulance and for the lady who kept on dialling 999.

My mother had to wait nearly an hour in pain after a bad fall coming off the bus two weeks ago. She had broken her hip.

Without these kind people of Sands, mum would not be where she is now - on the mend.

May I thank the kind people of Sands.

Nigel Lewis, Sands

European project could unravel and fail

When Britain became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973, we joined a community of nations and of peoples in which democracy thrived at a national and regional level, and where power at the centre in Brussels was kept within bounds.

Fifty years on, the leaders of the European Union are taking us towards an ever-closer union in quest of a United States of Europe.

Personally, I don’t regard this as a realistic or desirable goal and Europeans who disagree should remember that the USA, who they seek to emulate, began as 13 states where the great majority of the population had a common heritage and spoke the same language.

Europe is not a union of states but of nations, each one of which has its own history, its own parliament, its own legal system, its own armed forces, its own flag and anthem, its own traditions, its own language, its own literature, its own music and even its own styles of architecture.

In short, every European country is special, remarkable and unique.

In recent years, opposition has grown in Europe to the mass of rules and regulations coming from Brussels which have steadily undermined the distinctive character of the nations that make up the Union.

People who oppose further integration are labelled ‘wreckers’ and ‘populists’. In fact, most of them are simply patriots who love their country and don’t want to see it changed beyond recognition.

Unless the EU accepts and respects this, I believe that the European project will unravel and ultimately fail.

Laurance Reed, Beaconsfield

Impossible to comment on national politics in national papers

I was unsure whether to laugh or feel guilty, when, immediately following a 900 word letter from me on Brexit, I saw E.J. Cooper’s letter saying: ‘Your ‘Letters to the Editor’ page has, in my opinion too much coverage of items on Brexit, and national politics’.

I’m not sure E.J. Cooper’s idea of a barrier between national and local news is valid. Comments and exchanges of view on national issues do not necessarily prevent coverage of, or commenting on, local issues.

It is impossible for most local people to comment on national politics in a national paper. People may want to comment in the local press about an issue of national politics that affects everyday life in a locality, besides which we have two local MP’s who are prominent figures in the national furore over Brexit.

Laurance Reed and I have now contributed an equal number of letters on Brexit and if Mr Reed does not post a reply to my last offering then I shall assume he is mercifully restraining himself from delivering a crushing, unanswerable reply, out of consideration for the feelings of people like E.J. Cooper, and refrain from further comment myself.

Lawrence Linehan, Wooburn Green

Bravo to fantastic local groups

In your report regarding the installation of lifts and a bridge at Amersham station, to provide step free access for disabled people and those with items too heavy or bulky to carry over the footbridge (Bucks Free Press Amersham, Chesham and Little Chalfont edition, June 21), you omitted to mention that it was largely due to the unstinting efforts of the Chesham Transport Users Group (TUG) and the Amersham Action Group, that the project was given the green light by TfL.

Our excellent MP Dame Cheryl Gillan gave us her backing and support throughout our campaign.

Mike Armstrong, Chairman, Amersham Action Group

A rethink needed on new leisure centre

On June 10, Chiltern District Council Planning Committee recommended approval for the latest plans for replacing the swimming pool facility with a large leisure centre.

As a Chesham Bois born, Amersham resident, twice town mayor I would suggest that it is time for all the district councillors to take a long deep look at this massive "Prestige Project" being decided just when its financial and operational future will pass to a new council.

With responsibilities in both education and leisure there could and should be scope for more shared and less duplicated provision of items such as large sports halls including where they are built.

Tony Weedon, Amersham

MP should consider mounting climate change evidence

A number of Steve Baker’s constituents from High Wycombe including, among others, members of Wycombe Friends of the Earth, attended the mass lobby of parliament relating to climate change that took place on Wednesday, June 26, in London.

Although Mr Baker was unable to meet us, we were pleased to be able speak to a member of his parliamentary staff.

Thirty years ago this year, the then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, made a major speech to the United Nations calling for urgent action to stop climate change.

Even then, there was a massive amount of scientific evidence for man-made climate change; the evidence has become ever stronger since then, and is now so overwhelming that it would be criminally irresponsible not to act on it.

However, despite some half-hearted measures by national governments and the international community, global carbon emissions have continued to rise; indeed, last year the increase in global carbon emissions was the largest for almost a decade.

For this reason, Wycombe Friends of the Earth gives a tentative, cautious, welcome to the recent declaration of a climate emergency by the British parliament and the government’s declared target of making Britain carbon neutral by 2050.

It can, however, only be a cautious welcome, for these measures lack teeth and do not go nearly far enough.

The target date of 2050 is much too far in the future, and a target that is not supported by legislation and backed by government action is meaningless.

Furthermore, the government’s support for the expansion of Heathrow and HMRC’s plans to massively increase the level of VAT on solar storage battery systems suggest a lack of joined-up thinking at the heart of government.

To have any hope of preventing disaster, we need to rapidly decarbonise transport, by phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles and investing in public transport, and housing, by a massive investment in home insulation and the encouragement of new, more efficient, heating technologies. We need to aim for 100 per cent clean energy.

Furthermore, we must ensure that all new-build housing is carbon neutral, an objective of the previous government that was watered down after lobbying by the building industry.

Nor must we forget carbon emissions for which we are responsible even though they do not take place on our soil, that is to say the carbon emissions associated with the goods we import.

As a major emitter of greenhouse gases in the past, we also have a moral responsibility to pay our fair share to help vulnerable countries cope with the impact of climate change.

In order to help mitigate the effects of past greenhouse-gas emissions, we should seek to double the amount of tree cover in this country and take other measures to protect and enhance the natural environment.

We are fully aware that Mr Baker has historically been sceptical about climate change, but we hope he will take the opportunity to consider the growing mountain of evidence and ultimately come down on the side of effective government action to avert this threat to our way of life and our very existence as a species.

Steve Morton, Wycombe Friends of the Earth

Kind donations will improve safety

THE 1st Wooburn Scout Group would like to thank councillors Mike Appleyard, Julia Langley and Julia Adey for their kind donations.

Their contributions greatly assisted towards the installation of the CCTV to our Scout Headquarters (HQ) in Watery Lane, Wooburn Green.

Our HQ is used not only by the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, we have regularly community groups when it’s a non-scout night, Keep Fit, Aikido and Kick boxing.

It is used on Saturday mornings for under 9s football, and we also regularly hire out the hall for children’s parties over the weekends.

We have had Marlow Opportunity Playgroup that are based with us now for 10 years, using the hall every weekday from 8am to 1pm; a charitable playgroup for children with special needs.

All of the users store equipment on site, and whilst we are insured we are always looking for ways to improve the security and facilities at the hall.

To find out more about us, please visit www.wooburn.wixsite.com/wooburnscouts.

The 1st Wooburn Scout Group, Wooburn Green