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What a daft ruling

Well, we had some snow and now it's gone. Time to reflect.
The county council ran out of grit but they started the winter with what certainly appeared to be plenty so we can't blame them. Our road (which is a bus route) only iced over seriously once. On that occasion I rang the council and they were out with more grit within a couple of hours, again. You can't complain about that.
On Sunday, February 7, however, I decided to walk the 200 metres to the local shop to get a newspaper. I got out on to the pavement and found it was so slippery I couldn't stand up.
I had to walk in the road instead but I knew that that wasn't really the best thing to do. This is a very busy pavement so I could see that other people would be in trouble too.
When I got home, I got a spade and cleared the ice from a few metres of pavement. I'm not as young and fit as I was, so I did a few metres on each of three or four days. It's amazing how many people stop and speak to you when you do something out of the ordinary. At least a dozen people spoke to me and they all said I was doing a fine job. But each one asked if I knew I could be sued if someone fell where I had been working. Of course, I did know and I jokingly replied 'just let me see them try.'
It was also very noticeable that no one else lifted a spade to join in what I was doing. Was this why? I knew I was probably taking a silly risk (to my bank account – not anyone else). Isn't it about time someone in power reviewed this oft quoted and utterly ridiculous judgement. Is this just one more nail in the coffin of British 'stiff upper lip' and 'let's band together to get the job done?'
Where would the last generation of Brits have been when they were winning the war for us if they had not been allowed to help each other because of the very worst form of bureaucracy, metered out by some utterly misguided magistrate whose name has long been forgotten, who didn't stop to think how widespread the damage would be that was caused by his ill conceived ruling?
Now my wife has banned me from any future activities of this type in case the resulting legal fees bankrupt us! Of course she's perfectly correct.
Andrew OakLay,
Wentworth Road,
Rugby.


Proposals over shop

Recently there have been reports in local media concerning Pailton village shop, which contain factual inaccuracies and distortions, in my opinion. The parish council's proposal to re-open the shop is contentious, and it is important that the debate is carried out on the basis of true facts. There is significant opposition within the village on two grounds; firstly that there is a serious risk of burdening the village with debt, and secondly that the present owners are being treated unfairly.
The specific points at issue are:-
1. No serious attempt has been made to show the on-going financial and managerial viability of the proposal. There is no funding in place to support the fitting-out and start-up costs of the shop. The village has no money of its own for this purpose, although a small grant has been received to cover the cost of valuation surveys of the existing shop building.
2. In the event of the shop failing, there is no guarantee that the parish council could re-sell the building. No private offers have been made for it in the past 14 months as a commercial property, and change-of-use to domestic premises would be required to recoup the money. In the meantime, the loan repayments would require the parish council's council tax to approximately double.
3. The building is also the family home of the current owners. The offer made to them by the parish council is substantially less than their investment, and to accept it would cause them significant financial problems in finding alternative housing.
4. The parish council may not currently have the legal power to buy the building for this purpose. The legal advice received so far is unclear. I do not understand how any formal offer can therefore be made until this is sorted out.
5. A quote attributed to Mr. Tony Gillias implies that the existing owners want change-of-use in order to sell the building. I believe he has been misquoted, as he knows that they do not want to sell, and would like to remain as part of our village community.
Most, or all, of the objectors would like a shop somewhere in the village, and many would actively support a fully developed and financially sound project. Unfortunately, the parish council's proposal, at the moment, is neither of these.
Mike Hansford,
Lutterworth Road,
Pailton.


Co-op is not closing

I WRITE in response to rumours circulating around Ryton-on-Dunsmore that the Heart of England Co-operative Society Lateshop, which has served the community for many years, may pull out of the village.
These rumours appear to have come about following two armed robberies at the store in December and January but, through your letters page, I would like to re-affirm our commitment to the residents of Ryton.
As the largest independent retailer in Coventry, Warwickshire and south Leicestershire, with more than 50 locations across the area and 33 Lateshops and Foodcentres, villages and rural locations such as Ryton are our lifeblood and indeed epitomise the whole ethos of the Society serving the heart of the community.
We appreciate incidents such as these are extremely distressing not only to our staff and customers, but to the community as a whole. However we wish to reassure the people of Ryton-on-Dunsmore we are doing everything in our power to protect them against robberies and other such incidents.
We work closely with the police to see how we can improve security at all our stores and our measures are under constant internal review. In light of these incidents in Ryton-on-Dunsmore we have liaised with the police and our security providers to see what further improvements we can make.
Once again we would like to reassure our customers their safety and their confidence in our security measures is of paramount importance to us. We will continue to pull out all the stops to ensure we offer the best protection we can to our staff and customers at all times and that we intend to continue trade from the site for many more years to come.
Ali Kurji,
Chief Executive,
Heart of England Co-operative Society.


Kindness abounds

PEOPLE are always saying that Rugby has changed. I'm sure it has.
One thing that remains the same, however, is the kindness of people.
As your paper records faithfully each week, there are choirs, football supporters, Freemasons, schools, pubs etec all raising money for some cause or charity.
We mustn't take this for granted. Our town is still full of kindness.
Another group worthy of praise is the newspaper deliverers. Whatever the weather I have received my papers every day. Well done Maddens boys and girls.
Sheila Patrick,
Morton Gardens,
Rugby.


History re-written

I FEEL I must respond to Jerry Roodhouse's contribution in your letters page last week. Jerry is a past master at rewriting history and this letter was no exception.
Warwickshire County Council is an authority with no overall control and therefore the Conservative administration needs the support of at least one other group to produce a legal council tax, and this has been the case for many years.
The Liberal Democrats are not consistent in opposition – for the past two years they have done deals with the Conservative administration, but this year they showed no sign of wanting to talk to anyone. Negative opposition for opposition sake is not in anyone's interest.
The Liberal Democrat's proposed lower council tax, amounting to 48p per week, if implemented would have meant reducing spending on Community Protection thus threatening essential fire and rescue services at a time when there is so much uncertainty within the service. Their proposed cuts would have also done significant damage to the services promoting health and independence for older people who wish to remain in their own homes and reduced opening hours to our customer service centres and one stop shops both crucial to our customer access.
Councillor Roodhouse also referred to cuts in voluntary sector grants. He knows only too well that over £23 million pounds of taxpayers money is invested in that area and it would seem that if WCC is asking for efficiency savings across the whole of its services then the voluntary sector should be asked to do likewise.
This year we saw grown up politics between Conservatives and Labour differences were overcome through dialogue and debate before an agreement was reached. It would have been far better for the Liberal Democrats to have joined in the proceedings and play a positive role rather than sit on the sidelines like spoilt children.
Cllr. Alan Farnell,
Leader of Warwickshire County Council.


Try car sharing

I AM a keen reader of your newspaper and I take a great interest concerning the local community's views expressed on the letters page.
This is my first outing on the page, because I feel incensed how the local council is currently going about its business. I do not want to jump on the bandwagon in having a go, in relation to what seems a huge unrest with the local councillors.
The council has a duty to spend what is our hard-earned money responsibly in this difficult economic time. That includes starting with cutbacks in itsd own house, as ever person currently has to make.
I see the latest initiative is to put up car parking charges in an attempt to stop people staying too long in certain car parks.
(What that's about, stopping visitors/shoppers spending time in the town).
On a daily basis I see council employees park their cars in the car park off Newbold Road. The majority of cars have one occupant and all display a permit allowing them to park for free.
Why on earth when the car parking is at a premeium, they cannot car share and why they are allowed free parking in the first place, I don't know. The best solution would be a discounted parking pass. You only have to look at the doctors, nurses and NHS staff who work at the hospital and are made to pay for the privilege of parking when doing what is a fantastic job saving lives.
This is something to think about, councillors, at your next meeting and as we come to the end of this financial year, I wonder how many of them have made cutbacks in their allowances from last year.
Mr. V. Wilson,
Buttermere,
Brownsover.


Try ethical shopping

REGARDING the recent article headed 'Store staff mark 21st birthday, why doesn't Tesco celebrate the Rugby store's coming of age by stopping its sale of battery hen eggs?
This cruel method of producing eggs has existed in the UK since 1945 when it was brought in to feed the masses after the war. However, it is high time it was stopped, to relieve the hens from such suffering.
Sainsbury's in Rugby has recently ended its selling of eggs from caged birds, therefore, setting a benchmark for other supertmarkets to follow.
So go on, Tesco, give this form of ethical shopping a try.
Janet Cummings,
Tower Road,
Rugby.


Calling all ex-RAF

I AM trying to form the RAF Transport Command Veterans Association with the view of putting old RAF mates/comrades, mostly senior citizens, back in touch with each other.
We plan to have meetings/reunions etc and to produce an association magazine.
It would be open to anyone who has served at any Transpoirt Command station anywhere in the world.
For more information, send an eight inch by four inchs stamped, addressed envelope to me at the address below.
Jim Semple,
TCVA secretary,
187 Severn Avenue,
Swindon, Wilts,
SN25 3NB.


Hospice Booster

I WOULD like to thank all the people who came to the Benn Hall on Friday, February 13, to support the Festival of Music and Dance in aid of Rugby Myton Hospice.
Everyone's contribution helped make the night a success and such an enjoyable evening.
Very special thanks to Jan for all her hard work. We are delighted that we raised £1,000, so thanks once again. As always your support was much appreciated.
Doris Froggatt,
Rugby Myton Support Group.