August 15: Our planners should take a Bullring jolly
I'd like to propose that the councillors, architects and planners leading the Market City regeneration plan for Northampton town centre go on a jolly.
After various expenses scandals, and in today's economic climate, I realise that this may be an unusual idea, but a few pounds spent now will reap rewards in the near future.
The itinerary should consist of a trip to Birmingham's Bull Ring, paying special attention to Selfridges, and then head back to see the Curve Theatre and the rapidly expanding cultural quarter in Leicester.
The team should then assemble on the Market Square in Northampton with drawings and plans of their proposed new Greyfriars centre and see whether they still consider their concept iconic and visionary.
If they have even an ounce of aesthetic acumen between them, they should realise that merely replacing the commercial heart of Northampton with an insipid box with a few banners up the side saying "Shop, Eat, Enjoy" (so that's what you're meant to do in there!) is not going to place the Market City in the leading regional position they expect it to be.
The phrase "think outside the box" has never been so apt.
Greyfriars should be the jewel in the crown of the town's redevelopment.
Once a progressive design is in place, then the scheme as a whole has the potential to be vital and exciting.
I sincerely hope there's still time to rectify this shortcoming.
George Pollard,
Kingsley,
Northampton.
Attitude change is most needed
It's already started . . . pictures of the idyllic new town of Northampton (no it's not a city. Market City indeed! More marketing blurb).
No congestion, no drunks, no litter, no abandoned Vauxhall Astras.
Yet within a few days of the official opening of the revamped Gold Street, the pavements are strewn with old dog ends.
When we visited the other day some spotty youth of about 11 years of age, eating his McDonalds Happy Meal, was quite content to let his food wrappings blow down the road. Despite our requests the boy refused to pick up the rubbish.
No amount of redevelopment will change the attitude of such people and the state the town is in today is not just down to our poor council, but also the many inconsiderate members of the public who just don't give a hoot.
Tony Woods can create as much havoc as he likes with his misguided ideas, but he will not rid the town of these anti-social louts . . . and with a possible expansion we'll probably get a load more of them.
As an end note we can't help but think there was an error with the upper picture on page six of the Chron on August 12, which was supposed to depict the new proposed railway station. We presume the inclusion of the prefabricated prison block was a total mistake.
David and Heather Major,
Peninsular Close, Wootton, Northampton.
Election voting system not fair
In recent years both the Northampton Borough and Northamptonshire County Councils have been listed among the worst performing in the country and there are many people out there who would gladly give their time and expertise in order to help to put them back on the right track.
However, many of these public spirited individuals are put off because it seems that you cannot achieve anything unless you sell your soul to one of the three main political parties.
Unfortunately, certain individuals in these parties seem to spend much of their time indulging in petty squabbling and back-biting, to the extent that truth and integrity are very rapidly buried beneath a pile of excrement, and as a result many people are put off from getting involved in helping their communities.
The big party machines, funded by corporate big business, trade unions and other vested interests, can deploy armies of semi-professional leaflet distributors, often putting several editions of full colour newspaper-sized propaganda through people doors, while the poor old independent candidate struggles to meet the cost of a single black and white photocopied leaflet, relying on friends and family to circulate it.
As you can fool all of the people, especially around election time, the result is that generally the electorate blindly vote on a party ticket, and the “first past the post” system perpetuates the iniquity that the successful candidate rarely has the support of the majority of the electorate.
In order to overcome the increasing apathy of voters, which places the basis of our democracy at grave risk, the single transferable vote system should be adopted for all local council elections, as this would not only give greater opportunity to independents and other minority parties, but would also be much more representative of the true will of the people.
David Huffadine-Smith,
Duston Wildes, Northampton.
Soldiers pay the price of failure
The new general in charge of troops in Helmand Province has said we may have to stay and fight for 40 years or more.
Another report said three million bullets had been fired by UK ground troops in the last three years alone, and nearly 200 UK soldiers are dead with many more maimed for life.
How different to when Reuters confirmed three years ago that Dr John Reid, Labour Defence Minister at the time, had said that “We are in the south, Helmand, to protect the Afghanistan people and reconstruct the economy and encourage democracy. We would be happy to leave in three years time without firing one shot.”
The complacency of this statement is beyond belief and shows how the Labour Government drifted in to this horrific and continuing conflict with no real knowledge of what the consequences would be in reality and with the completely wrong mindset.
Our soldiers are paying the price with their blood for the failure of the Government and MoD to provide good intelligence before moving south into Helmand Province.
I would also like to know but cannot find out how many innocent Afghanistan people have been killed or wounded by collateral damage as a result our armed forces actions in Helmand, and what happens about that.
Nick Griffin, BNP MEP, has claimed millions of pounds have already been paid in compensation by the UK to Afghanistan people and families that our troops were there to protect.
Perhaps our local labour MP Mrs Sally Keeble could confirm if this is true or not and provide details for our education?
John Wright,
Port Road, Duston, Northampton.
Watch out for ‘For Sale’ signs
May I assure Councillor Malpas (Viewpoint, August 8) that I have never ceased to be a campaigner.
Like every one of our Liberal Democrat colleagues, Councillor Pam Varnsverry and I continue to campaign to safeguard all of Northampton’s parks and open spaces, motivated by the sad reality that the Conservatives cannot be trusted to do so.
In the same way as the borough Conservatives treated the residents of Delapre and Far Cotton with contempt in February 2006, when they permitted the bunds to be inflicted on Delapre Park, so the county Conservatives treated the residents of Parklands with disdain in July 2009, by voting against designation of green space and playing fields as a town green, condemning them to be concreted over.
Councillor Malpas may now feign interest in the well-being of Delapre Park, but the Conservative’s track record (as the electorate of Parklands recently discovered with his colleague, Councillor Hallam) means residents of Billing should not depend on Councillor Malpas to stand up for their village green should the Tories ever be afforded the opportunity to plant a “for sale” sign.
Councillor Paul Varnsverry,
West Hunsbury Ward,
Northampton Borough Council.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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