April 28: Wake up before this fine mansion is lost
When are officers from Daventry District Council going to wake up to the fact that the New Testament Church of God, is doing little, in my view, to restore the once grand and beautiful Overstone Hall they still own, to its former splendour (Chron, April 18).
They and others, including Overstone and Sywell residents, are tut-tutting and shuffling their feet, yet doing nothing to save this fine mansion, built for Lord Overstone around 1886.
Make no mistake, the hall will either collapse or the nod will be given for its demolition . . . in the interests of public safety, of course.
This grade two listed mansion became an almost crumbling ruin following a catastrophic fire in 2001.
The whole fiasco makes my blood boil.
During the last couple of years I've had several meetings with Northampton North MP Sally Keeble, who fully supports my concerns and fears that English Heritage is still reluctant to statutorily insist on adequate insurance cover for listed buildings.
However, there may be, at last, just the exposure needed to give English Heritage a long-overdue proverbial kick up the backside in the form of a national TV programme-maker showing an interest in the defenceless state that listed buildings are currently enduring. English Heritage: watch out!
Michael York,
Acre Lane, Northampton.
Vote, but not for the comedy duo
The comedy duo of county councillors, Harker and Parker, who between them (and their ilk) have denuded the taxpayers of Northamptonshire of 32.7million in consultants' fees, for a contract that was unlawfully entered into in the first instance, should – if they refuse to resign – never be re-elected to any political office in the future.
Any reasonable politician, instead of blaming everyone else for their own mistake, would have, for this debacle, fallen heavily onto their sword.
Councillor Harker states quite categorically that the current administration had a root and branch reorganisation of the authority, with a new chief executive and a whole new team of officers.
A considered opinion might well be that the tree has withered, the roots poisoned and the branch has dropped off!
Abstaining from voting is no form of opposition and I hope the good people of Northamptonshire bear this in mind when county councillors are putting themselves forward as candidates for the forthcoming county council elections.
Don J Collin,
Cotswold Avenue, Duston, Northampton.
Homeless . . . for six months
I was shocked to read your article about the illegal camp in Delapre woods and the more shocking comments by Councillor Glynane, the Lib Dem deputy leader of our poor-rated borough council.
He claims the the council is proactive in helping the homeless.
Can he then tell us, with the new bidding process in place, is it working in relation to housing the homeless? Because I have been dealing with a case of two people who were accepted as being homeless and still have not been given adequate housing and were waiting for some six months due to this process.
I find it fascinating he can make such a claim when there are people, families even, living in bed and breakfast accommodation and who have been in such accommodation for some time.
Surely it is about time he started putting his efforts into dealing with this failing authority's problems rather than misleading us in the paper.
Peter Evans,
Former Labour Borough Councillor, Stanley Street, Northampton.
Protest police deserve respect
I refer to the Chronicle & Echo of April 17, World Today, news at a glance, G20 officers are criticised.
I read with some interest that some 150 complaints have been made to a watchdog regarding the behaviour of the police during angry clashes with protesters in London.
I take note that nothing has been said or reported about the abuse, attacks, insults and provocation that the G20 police had to face during their job, upkeeping the law and protecting the world leaders who were attending the G20 conference, who were the responsibility of this Government.
However one should expect this from the politically correct brigade.
Of course, in a democracy, people have a right to protest and many have made a career of doing so.
We who have other things to do should expect to see peaceful protests. Those who uphold the law should be given respect while they do their duty.
V Graham-Hole,
Elgin Street, St James End, Northampton.
Some MPs are doing a good job
We all deplore MPs' abuse of expenses, but Eric Medcraft (April 4) misses the point. While it might be nice to cull Sally Keeble for her New Labour politics, we would also lose a very hard-working constituency MP.
Being an MP gives her access to ministers, of whom she manages to bring a fair few to Northampton. This means that the Government knows where we are!
Sadly, Eric, saving ourselves a 100-odd salaries, would lose much of the democracy we still have.
A similar thing could be said of local government, although it does touch on the issue of unitary authority. However, councillors do have a bigger say in policy, even if they eventually toe the party line. They also have a tendency to be round and about. Sadly they also suffer from Government restrictions.
It is a proper part of the democratic process to keep our representatives on their toes, but we should also acknowledge the hard work put in by a great many MPs and councillors.
Colin Bricher,
Local Spokesman, Christian Peoples Alliance party, Northampton.
Crowded patio
Our glass recycling box was delivered today along with a note saying we could buy another brown wheelie bin for 30.
So, Councillor Woods should know that this summer our gardens will have three wheelie bins and three recycling boxes in them. Not much room for the patio set, barbecue and tubs full of pretty summer plants then. Instead they will be awash with ugly smelly plastic bins.
G De-Chasterlain,
Lister Drive, West Hunsbury, Northampton.
Developing safely
AS the economic downturn continues to bite, some of your readers carrying out small property developments may be tempted to cut corners to save money.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) research has shown that many people developing property as a business do not realise they have legal responsibilities for health and safety.
I would urge readers to visit the www.hse.gov.uk/property or call the HSE InfoLine on 0845-3450055 to find out more about the various responsibilities property developers have.
Frank Lomas,
HSE Construction Inspector (East Midlands).
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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