READERS' VIEWS 29/1

29 January 2009

Bus axe has left us isolated

I, and my fellow non-drivers of Swinford, Catthorpe and Shawell, are now being held virtual prisoners in these villages since the removal of our bus service the140 - Observer last week.
Now we can only go out once a day for one to three hours, depending on which day we choose to go out on. We are being dictated to, they are telling us when we can and can not go shopping and to the doctors etc.
Oh and forget about emergency doctor appointments, we have to book for our transport the day before. Is someone out there having a laugh at our expense?
I for one can not work outside the village as I now have no transport to get me into Rugby or Lutterworth and back, unless I can find a job where I work for the time and days specified by our timetable.
Are we going backwards into Catherine Cookson times where we need to get up in the small hours to walk aproximately 12 miles a day there and back?
Furthermore we may be able to escape for a short while each day (except Wednesdays and Sundays), but no one can visit us unless they drive or are prepared to pay the extortionate prices of a taxi.
Someone told me the other day that you don’t live in a village unless you drive. What a lot of rubbish. How many teenagers do you know who drive (legally that is)?
They have a life too, and like to go into town to meet up with friends at weekends and during school holidays - for more than an hour that is.
I thought that the Government was eager to get as many cars as possible of the roads. Well this is astrange way of going about it.
Mrs Emery, Swinford

Rents are still cheap

ANGER at Forced Rent Rises - Observer last week. Council tenants paying £65.08 per week rent - that angered me!
As a private householder I pay at least that on property maintenance.
Leigh Hunt says on page three of your newspaper: “This increase will hit the most vulnerable people in our society.”
No it won’t, they get housing benefit, Council Tax benefit and any other benefit to which they are entitled.
Having a look at the private rental sector may be a good idea Mrs Hunt - £100 to £200 per week for below average properties.
How about giving me a council place so I can live my life without worrying about all my bills? I await a reply, but it will not be forthcoming.
Name and address supplied

Disabled need more spaces

I LIVE close to the town shopping precinct but, as a registered disabled person, I have need on occasion to park in the town when purchasing cumbersome goods that I can not carry home.
Usually I would utilise the Clock Towers parking facility or take advantage of the payment exempt spaces made available in other local parking bays. I was distressed that after touring in my car round all town centre facilities none that I could find now offer a free two hour service to disabled people.
Could anyone please advise why this is and when the provision for free parking for disabled was withdrawn?
I do not abuse my ‘privileges’ as a disabled person and feel discriminated against that I had the frustration of not being able to shop in the town, were I fully able I would have enjoyed walking into town and carrying my purchases home.
Diane Charlton, Via email

Leaflets are confusing

LIKE many people in Rugby, we have just received a leaflet explaining the new recycling procedures that start in April.
I was shocked and appalled to discover that food waste is to be recycled using the green bin, which will only be collected once a fortnight.
My heart sank at the thought of just how smelly these green bins will become. The situation is already bad enough with weekly collections, especially in the summer.
Our ‘considerate’ neighbours keep their black bin just six feet away from our back door with the result that the smell permeates the house and makes life pretty intolerable. I dread to think what things will be like under the new regime.
So I telephoned the council, to be informed that food waste can still be put in our existing black bins (for non-recyclables) that will be collected on alternate weeks to the green bin. In other words food waste can still be collected weekly - if only you can remember which bin to put it in!
What a shame the council didn’t make this this clear in their leaflet or was it deliberately misleading? This isn’t the first time that their communications on the subject have been contradictory and confusing.
Don’t get me wrong I’m very much in favour of recycling, (all our rubbish is correctly dispatched) but not at the expense of having our home polluted.
Apparently the council don’t have the power to intervene in neighbourly disputes that will undoubtedly arise from their ill-thought out schemes. That apparently is a civil matter.
Perhaps the council would be kind enough to clarify the matter for all concerned.
Name and address supplied

Dogs need time off their leads

OVER the past few months, I’ve read with interest the articles in your paper regarding the controversial by-law banning dogs off lead in certain areas in Rugby. Many of the rules regarding this already exist, it’s nothing new.
‘Dogs must be kept on the lead’ and ‘clean up after your dog’ signs have been fixed on lamp posts etc. all over the borough for years.
It’s a bit ironic that at the same time when the council brought this to the public’s notice, they in-turn removed all the free dog poo bag dispensers from local parks. How irresponsible can they be? Not a good idea if you truly want to encourage responsibility with some owners to pick up after their animals.
I can understand dogs not being allowed in certain areas but have to draw the line where parks are concerned.
My dogs are on lead anyway for whatever reason but I believe it’s wrong to prevent dogs generally from having freedom off lead. Allowing them off lead gives them proper physical exercise and is good for their mental wellbeing and social skills.
Dog owners who fail or refuse to clean up after their animals need to be tackled, for this there is no excuse. However, this is where the buck stops as I believe that dog owners are being discriminated and victimised with the new proposal.
I walk my dogs every day in my local park in Bilton, we face many hazards not only created by Joe Public but also Rugby Borough Council.
These include discarded broken glass bottles and metal drink cans, some of which can be very dangerous to dogs when chewed up by one of the council’s grass cutting machines. In the dark winter months, often this type of litter isn’t seen till it’s too late.
Cycling in the park and on pavements and footpaths generally is prohibited and this causes a lot of friction when riders appear from behind you or towards you with no warning and strangely expecting you to move out of the way.
Visitors to football matches in the park often park vehicles on the pavements and grass verges, causing a hazard for other drivers and pedestrians.
Many of you have experienced the problems that ‘travellers’ create when they set up site illegally on land without permission. Have you ever noticed that the council or police never make these people clean up the mess they leave before leaving?
Or prosecute them for criminal damage, littering, the mess their children or animals leave behind.
The list is endless and leads to a question for the council and local police as to why none of these matters are being tackled or addressed?
My opinion is that dog owners should carry on with their dogs off lead and cite discrimination as a tool if they are threatened with action by local authorities.
It’s a matter of get your own house in order Rugby Borough Council before you begin victimising others.
There’s no level playing field here. I doubt though if anyone at the council will do anything but sit twitching at their desks thinking up something else to annoy us with!
Mike Stonehouse, via email

New bylaw takes the fun away

THE council cabinet looks as if it’ll decide on February 2 to prohibit letting dogs off the lead in the majority of the borough.
Oh, how they love to introduce still more pettifogging rules for them to enforce and for us to obey!
Meanwhile our shops shut down, our much lauded library looks set to become a centre of excellence for aerobics and the violence in the town inhibits all but the reckless or drunk venturing out after dark.
I have much enjoyed my dogs in the 30 years I’ve lived in Rugby and my dogs have I’m sure (but I’ve no written testimonials) much enjoyed their doggy lives in the borough. But just as it was once thought irresponsible to bring a child into the world when we were living in the shadow of the bomb, I shall not introduce another dog if it has to live a pathetic life like a tethered sacrificial goat.
Besides, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 says dogs must be allowed to exhibit normal behaviour patterns. So if I owned a dog, yet complied with the proposed by-law I would be in breach of not only of common sense but also our local laws.
The dog question has been deliberately linked by the council to dog dirt, making a vote for dog freedom appear also a vote for dog dirt. Very cunning!
Dr DM Sharp, Lower Hillmorton Road, Rugby

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