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 Prince’s Trust Youth Index has also warned that a lack of daily routine, including regular bedtimes and set mealtimes, can cause young people to struggle at school, with thousands ending up unconfident, under-qualified and unemployed.
It’s plain to see that young people need more support than ever. Our schemes, including xl clubs, help the hardest-to-reach young people move successfully through education and are proven to get them into jobs. Now, we need to work with teachers, local authorities and employers so that we can help more young people across the region.
We have launched our largest consultation with teachers exploring the support they need to help the hardest-to-reach pupils. To get involved, go to www.princes-trust.org.uk/consultation
John O’Reilly,
Prince’s Trust regional director, East Midlands.
Who was behind the spending?
AN open letter to the leader of Northamptonshire County Council: Dear Councillor Harker, on February 9, Towcester folk will be able to vote for a new county councillor to fill the vacancy left when Councillor Bromwich retired.
For those undecided which way to vote, would you please reveal: a) how much public money has been spent in total in recent years on paintings of members/former members; b) which political parties were responsible?
A few weeks ago the Chronicle & Echo informed us that some £3,000 was being paid for a London artist to produce an oil painting of the then Councillor Rosemary Bromwich. It also said two other councillors had been similarly immortalised.
No one from NCC went into print to defend the expenditure or deny the Chron’s story.
Through the paper’s letters column, I then condemned the apparent waste of money as breathtaking arrogance.
Again the silence was deafening – the other two parties were also unusually silent on the issue – so have they been part of this?
Now I hear that framing Mrs Bromwich’s picture cost a further £1,500 or so! That may, of course, be wrong. If so, please tell.
If it isn’t, I reckon £3,000 for a picture plus £1,500 for framing, plus doubtless a few bob to transport/install said picture in County Hall, adds up to the thick end of £5,000. Multiply that by three and we are talking some £15,000 . . . roughly equal to the county’s share of council tax paid by circa 30 households.
Think on it (doing so makes me sick as well as mad): the total council tax paid to the county by residents of a small street in a year – all ‘blown’ on paintings of members.
Please say who has been responsible for that, or that I’ve got it wrong. If you don’t, Councillor Harker, I, along with many others, will have to assume the current administration is the coward of the county and vote accordingly.
Trevor Johnson,
Jenkinson Road, Towcester.
Why no public objections?
As a long time regular bus user I am at a loss to find to date not a single local councillor has raised objections or made public comments on the potential demise of our functional bus station.
It seems our councillors, developers and all those involved in the grand master plan have no interest in supporting our needs.
This station has been very well consolidated for the purpose for which it was built, and serves the town and bus commuters well.
We have no qualms about this station because we use it, and the only people who want to see a replacement are the very people who do not use it.
The excuse of having bigger shops is a false hype, a town does not develop with shops only, it needs more than shops, ie, a good transport system.
The council has over the decades failed to deliver good sustainable transport and now trying to provide glorified bus shelters is not going to make this town anything better. I say leave our big, ugly monster alone, it might be ugly to others who do not use it, but to us it is a godsend, best thing this town has given us. We know it because we use it.
Secondly the so-called consultation process has been flawed. How can a very important issue like this be done in two short days? Surely has the council not the obligation to go out to reach much wider areas and communities to get more broad feedback? Why is there so much disparity in council consultation processes, does it change according to their benefits? It seems we are being dictated to, but within the parameters of giving the two day process any legality if challenged.
If we are all in this together and under the localised agenda, then I say listen to all the readers who have expressed their grief in demolition of our station. It shows we are the local people who use it, so let us keep it under local agenda.
Sudha Shah,
Links View, Northampton.
Another nail in the coffin
What a surprise, after proposing the move of the bus station (which the majority do not want), it now comes to pass the NBC wants to “re-vamp” town centre roads, another nail in the coffin of any small retailers left on Gold Street and Bridge Street. It has only been a few years since the streets were ripped up (sorry re-vamped) and shops lost custom and closed. This is all because the “powers that be” do not listen or consult the public. Which is precisely why no one attends when a meeting is held. Each time the council just do whatever they want, surely this a prime example of tail (council) wagging dog (public). If the council showed some humility and actually listened people may not be so apathetic.
Doug Buckle,
Park Lane, Northampton.
Lib Dems also failed to listen
Does the current Conservative administration not remember we got rid of the Liberal Democrats at the last election because they refused to listen to the electorate?
The vast majority of people do not want money wasted on a new bus station or a bigger Grosvenor Centre, particularly as we are enduring cuts to essential services. We all know there has to be cuts, but the council cannot expect us to accept lights out, reductions in PCSOs etc when they flagrantly ignore public opinion and intend to waste millions.
If they wish to continue to represent us, they should have a local referendum on the future of the bus station and abide by the result. If they carry on the way they are, they are insulting all the people who voted for them in the hope their opinions mattered.
The Lib Dems worked on the basis they knew better than we did, what we wanted or needed. Please don’t make the same mistake.
In addition, the unelected, undemocratic WNDC should be disbanded as a matter of urgency and before they build a glass monstrosity which will be an eyesore not a landmark.
E Barnes,
Leicester Street, Northampton.
Parked cars pose danger
With regret to bring this subject up again I have to respond to Tory Boy’s text in the Chron, January 31. He is totally missing the point. We are aware you are “allowed” to park outside our houses, we were aware of this when we moved here and I’m proud to have the rugby team on my doorstep, but in my opinion, this is not the problem, it’s the way a lot of Saints supporters park that is.
They just seem to dump their vehicles and go, without taking into consideration their surroundings.
Duston Road is just pathetic on a match day, double parking etc means sometimes the buses can’t get down there. What if a fire engine is needed?
We had a crash at the junction of Ellesmere and Duston roads last season due to poor visibility from parked cars. We had our young children in the car. The whiplash we suffered was bad enough, how long until something serious happens?
I hope this makes the people that park there feel ashamed and think before they park in future, but I doubt it!
Mrs Harborne,
Peverels Way, Northampton.
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