Letters to the editor - what's on your mind Aylesbury?

A good mix of letters today, discussing the the Rangers at Coombe Hill, The proposed closure of Bledlow recycling centre and once again, traffic...
Letters to the editor - what's on your mind Aylesbury?Letters to the editor - what's on your mind Aylesbury?
Letters to the editor - what's on your mind Aylesbury?

If you would like your letter to be featured, email [email protected]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear editor,

I would like to say a big thank you to Neil Harris and his team of rangers who look after Coombe Hill.

It was our mothers 83rd birthday on Thursday 18th October and as a young girl she was always up Coombe Hill, but has not been able to go up there for many years due to mobility.

We contacted the National Trust to see if they could help and without hesitation Neil Harris agreed to open the gate so we could drive our mother Sylvia Nicol and her neighbour Terry Smith to the monument.

Sylvia had a wonderful time telling the family what a great time she used to have and the many walks she went on with her parents and then taking her children and grandchildren catching the train and then walking from Wendover.

Neil actually came and opened the gates himself and spoke to us about the history of Coombe Hill.

Thank you for making her birthday an unforgettable day.

Karen and John Nicol

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Editor,

As I walked along the Wendover Road towards town, the traffic was really congested, I saw many drivers with their phones out texting or talking to someone, probably “Im stuck intraffic again” There was even a Bucks Highways maintenance van driver with his phone clamped to his ear busy chatting to someone.

Having tripped over a paving slab that was cracked, I decided to watch the pavement instead, having got to 73 slabs either cracked sunken or heaving over the tree roots, I realised I couldnot remember the last time any repairs had been done.

As I crossed at the Gyratory lights, having avoided being run over by 3 cars that ran the red lights, “don’t trust the little green man”, I passed the old taxi office, and along to the next setof lights, on my way I admired all the foliage growing out of the pavement and along the side of the wall, it is such a shame that they do not have flowers all year round, it would give thedrivers something to admire, while they contemplate how much longer they will be stuck in traffic.

Across the lights towards the fenced off old HSBC bank, again avoiding being run over, I cross and walk towards the Bricklayers Arms into town, I now face a different challenge,cyclists flying along the pavement, even being sworn at, because I am in the way, the fact that I am 70% deaf does not occur to them. I realised that when HS2 begins with a vengeance what are the state of our roads going to be like, added to that are ALL the new houses, and they say the roads are fine, and will take the extra capacity!!

It only takes temporary lights, an RTC or a collapsed building and everything comes to a standstill.

The traffic was not moving very much, frustration creeps in and I see drivers gesturing at each other and getting inpatient.

The same happens when I drive on the roads, I do 30mph in a 30 mph zone, and get abused, the roads are cracked split and sunken, on King Edward Ave someone with a sense of humour has daubed in white paint “FIX ME” across a crack that runs from one side to other in the road.

Austerity has really started to bite here in Aylesbury, but our council taxes still keep going up, surely it is time our MP Mr Liddington stood up for his area, instead of ensuring his own career is on track, by just accepting all the cuts.

I wonder where it will all end.

Olive King

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Editor,

Having made another of my occasional trips to the local Bledlow ‘recycling centre’ which serves a wide area, it is clear to me that any suggestion to closeit is flawed.

Vehicles were queuing to use it and this was during the week, NOT a very busy weekend!

Bledlow tip was actually created by filling a valley in the hill with refuse, so a very elderly and long time local friend tells me, which makes it unlikely to be an option for alternative use (like selling to build on) and its costs will relate mainly to staff who would presumably have to work at another site anyway.

Yes of course costs must be controlled and Bucks like most Shire counties is no exception. But closures are probably amongst the worst options.

ï‚· Road congestion and pollution will grow with vehicles making longer treks to alternative sites.

ï‚· Fly tipping will surely increase with all the attendant costs of that.

ï‚· Queues to unload, already long, will intensify.

ï‚· Many more houses producing less rubbish is an unlikely equation in thisarea.

It might seem to be more sensible for exceptional waste to be collected periodically in the same way as regular weekly collections perhaps by prior arrangement as in many urban areas. But bearing in mind that longer trips to far away refuse sites involve higher costs for the motorist why not make a small charge for the use of the local one? That would seem fair to those who never use them and would cover some of the costs of running them.

It could be as simple as with car parks. Have a payment machine at the entry barrier taking just £1 or perhaps £2 coin per visit which no one would surely object to for what is usually just an occasional visit. For example I estimate that just at Bledlow, with at least 40 cars per hour, over £300 per day (£100,000 per year) would be taken at just £1 which might well pay for the operation. Higher charges could operate for commercial waste drops or larger trailers replacing the present system of permits for exceptions.

It’s a real shame that these essential facilities come under threat, when our councils shell out massive amounts such as installing traffic delaying light systems at every opportunity (assisted by inactive private ‘roadworks’) when as at the Oakfield Road/Stocklake junction with no space restriction, a sensible and far cheaper roundabout would have been a real solution.

A Shepherd