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Reader letters

We need vision for the decades ahead

Again our councils are making decisions the general public are unhappy about. We’ve had the fountain, the marina and now the bus station and a glass cube. The bus station decision appears to have been taken by those who do not use the bus. It is nonsense to move it to where people have to go outside and will not accommodate all of the required bays.

Make changes for future generations

I have stopped reading the various comments regarding the bus station in the papers and its location . . . no one seems to agree any way.

Stuck in the middle of ‘pass the parcel’

The residents of Whitehills & Spring Park (WASPRA) feel they are in a “pass the parcel” situation between Daventry District Council, Northamptonshire County Council and Ensign, the potential developers of 1,050 houses on Buckton Fields.

1 comment

Muzzle dogs for their own safety

I am writing in response to the article in the Chronicle (February 14) about the dog swallowing cannabis.

Gasometers would be truly innovative

John Connolly and Graham Croucher, on behalf of St James Residents’ Association, provide a very useful suggestion of how West Northamptonshire Development Corporation might kill two birds with one stone (ViewPoint, February 13).

Why are tax payers being forced to pay?

I think I must be mellowing in my old age, having found myself agreeing with some of John Dickie’s opinions. This was confirmed by his excellent column (C&E, February 8) on the Greyfriars fiasco and reinforced by a revealing letter from Councillor Tony Clarke. These are two people who were at the very heart and beginnings of the negotiations and if they are not convinced of the viability of this harebrained scheme, why should the rest of us be in favour? Even further, I note Matt Hammon (NCC contractor) has stated “there is no guarantee the shopping centre will be developed once the (new) bus station is built”!

Many reasons for a lack of civic pride

Graham Smith wonders (ViewPoint, February 8) why recent letters in the Chron seem to indicate a general lack of civic pride. The leading letter that day about withdrawal of council funding for the Stroke Association might be one clue. Some prioritisation. Not to mention Adrian Bell’s letter the previous day on the machinations of our local authorities in planning literally to bulldoze through the mystifying and costly replacement of a perfectly serviceable bus station with a plainly inferior one, in the face of continuing howls of opposition from Northampton bus users and anyone else with a grain of sense . . . or a suspicious tendency.

Develop the town to make us proud

IT was in April 2000 that Philip Saunderson, the then Town Centre Manager, came to talk to a group I help run, on the subject of town centre development – creating an attractive town centre for Northampton. As archivist it was my job to provide a summary of the talk. Given the current concern re the bus station’s prospective demise, I looked up the report. It began ‘Would that all our council officials had as much spirit, vitality and drive as Mr Saunderson!’

Use gasometers as building for WNDC

When on November 15 2011, the localism bill gained royal assent, the planning committee gave permission for the Old Church School in St. James to be demolished and replaced with 14 houses, ignoring the view of local people and consigning over 140 years of St. James history to the wreckers ball.

It’s not too late to reverse decision

With the local MPs now supporting the relocation of the bus station, it has become a case of those who don’t use it telling those who do what’s good for them.

2 comments

League restructure to ruin small clubs

I would like to express Northampton Spencer FC’s concerns regarding the FA proposals for the restructuring of Step 5.

Vulnerable people are hit yet again

i am actually fuming! A letter has just plonked through my letterbox from the Stroke Association telling me that the funding for both their services will be stopped as from April 2012.

5 comments

No town is better served by station

APRIL 1 seems to have come early this year, and is indeed turning into a nightmare from which, it seems, the people of Northampton will never wake.

A worrying start to year for youngsters

The beginning of 2012 has brought with it a worrying time for young people. The alarming rise of youth unemployment means that almost one in five young people in the East Midlands is struggling to find a job.

The cells made me feel de-humanised

Reading your report about the closure of the police cells at Campbell Square I was interested in John Harrison’s assertion that “Cells are not supposed to be salubrious” which seems to me to be based upon the presumption you must have done something wrong to be locked up there. May I point out these are holding cells used after arrest and before conviction: indeed there have been many occasions when people who have later been exonerated of any offence at all have been kept in those cells.

Giving a voice to vulnerable people

I used to regularly speak at council meetings about the cuts from as far back as 2005.

Get the unemployed working for benefits

Why don’t they implement the obvious? There is a way to get the unemployed into a work ethic that will not (a) affect their various benefits, (b) upset the unions, (c) provide much needed employment issues in the public/private sector, and (d) separate out the will not/cannot work recipients of the benefit culture.

Planning parking with eyes closed

The news WNDC has approved its own Innovation Centre on Black Lion Hill is of great concern to the long suffering residents of St James.

Why ‘consult’ when cuts already made?

Councillor Jim Harker bemoans the fact people didn’t turn up at the NCC budget consultation meeting last week. This could be down to several factors: we don’t get an attendance allowance, we don’t get sandwiches or travel expenses and we weren’t elected to run the budget.

Thanks but no thanks to Legal & General

Having had the opportunity to view the plans for the proposed new bus interchange, my view is contrary to what we are told. No advantage to the shoppers will be gained at all.

Junction work is a big improvement

Tony Parker asks (ViewPoint, January 9) whether the works at the Cock Hotel junction represent good value for money.

Local people should control expansion

When is Daventry District Council going to stop boundary dumping? Here in Moulton we face the prospect of another 350 houses being built this year!

All town landmarks deserve a chance

After finally seeing the letter written by Sheron Watson thanks to the Facebook group (the campaign to save Northampton’s Historic Gasometers) I thought I would add my thoughts to the issue. Both Sheron and Paul Varnsverry have done a lot of good work to get people to air their views when it comes to both towers, but I do worry it is all in vain.

Town deserves a practical station

I recently viewed the proposals for the new bus interchange that were on display in the Grosvenor Centre and I have a few concerns and comments on what I saw.

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Weather for Northampton

Thursday 23 February 2012

5 day forecast

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Cloudy

Temperature: 9 C to 15 C

Wind Speed: 17 mph

Wind direction: South west

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