'The Skerningham garden village is a bad, bad project'

Even William the Conqueror’s harrying of the North or Attila the Hun’s devastation could not be deemed so moronic.

This project proves we are ill-served by the politico/developer elite who would build a superstore on the village green at Long Newton, a burger joint on the river bank at Neasham, a wine bar on stilts in the centre of Lake Windermere, if the fee was right.

I’ve lived in Darlington for 46 years, doing the Barmpton river walk about 25 times per year – just short of a thousand times.

It’s “Cotswoldian”, I’ve observed every kind of wildlife – stood eyeball to eyeball with foxes, kingfishers, owls, rabbits, frogs etc.

I’ve got lost in the jungle, delighted in every kind of plant and been chased by frisky cows.

The world is good and beautiful. So is life – despite the best efforts of some human beings to change it.

And before someone shouts “Nimbyism!” – this is not my/our backyard. It’s everybody’s. It’s incumbent on everyone to protect it.

Houses – of course! But please find somewhere more appropriate.

Michael Baldasera, Darlington.

Plan precedent

Alan MacNab, makes excellent points in his letter “Master plan” (D&S Times letters, Sept 13).

He writes that: “The Skerningham master plan would be agreed by two Darlington Borough Council officers.” And as such would seem to negate any decision by the full council.

I don’t know if this is current practice or a first, in my view it sets a very dangerous precedent. And one other council’s may adopt.

Alan Macnab goes further quoting government: “Garden Communities Guidance.”

Many thanks to Alan’s correspondence, we are all much more aware of what could happen as standard in the future.

I hope there is a comment by Darlington Borough Council very soon.

Michael Anderson, Knottingley, West Yorkshire.

State of the nation

SIR KEIR STARMER didn’t get the hero’s welcome a victorious Labour leader might have expected from the TUC.

Instead, his Tory-lite policies were greeted in the same way unions treat Conservative politicians.

Labour is already in a mess, mainly of its own making.

Its claims the winter fuel cuts stopped a stock market meltdown were ridiculed. By the stock market!

So why are Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer pursuing policies that amount to political Hari Kari?

Put simply, Labour is enslaved to Treasury dogma, drawn up by unelected, establishment mandarins determined to block the changes most people want.

First, these posh boys insist that government spending only discourages millionaires from investing. Second, they want a high value pound but they won’t admit the real cause of inflation is the lust for profit.

Third, their economic bible insists there must always be low taxes on business and the rich. They also want a so-called small state.

This always means underfunded health, education and social services for the likes of us.

This Treasury theorising is a con!

There are 100,000 NHS vacancies. Research by the Health Foundation shows we massively trail French and German spending on health.

Our government punishes pensioners for the sake of £1.3bn, yet Shell, BP, Mobile etc. make a billion a week in profits.

Only a transfusion of some of this colossal wealth will stave off the gathering storm of council bankruptcies and service cuts.

Broke Britain is a myth, with The Sunday Times Rich List celebrating a golden era for the super-rich.

We should ask: “Why are there billions for defence but austerity for the people they’re claiming to defend?”

C Walker, Darlington.

Victim blaming

IN response to Sue Frank’s letter, “High visibility” (D&S Times, Aug 30). This is a classic example of victim blaming.

This is no different to saying to a victim of sexual abuse that they must have had too many drinks or that they were wearing the wrong clothes.

Horse riders, cyclists, pedestrians have as much right to use the public highways as do the drivers of motor vehicles.

It is the responsibility of the car driver to drive safely within the limits of the road conditions.

If a car driver requires other road users to wear florescent clothing then I suggest that they should not be on the road and should get their eyes tested.

Ian Hobson, Scruton, Northallerton.

Winter fuel vote

THE British parliament led by Keir Starmer showed last week that the tough decisions he had to make will be for the old and vulnerable members of British society.

He won because he has a majority of members in Parliament who are mostly made up of rookie MPs and he bullied them to vote for the bill to stop winter fuel payments.

All he succeeded in doing was alienating the populous and letting his new MPs take the flack in their constituencies. He achieved in one vote the honour of being the leader of the most hated Government in British history in eight short weeks of total chaos.

In a very short time, his rookies will find out from their constituencies the feelings of the public and use their common sense to propose a vote of no confidence and rid the country of this leader.

But should the people on the streets show their dissent he will have them arrested as right wing hooligans.

TJ Ryder, Acomb, York.

Knee jerk reactions

I FIND the criticism of the new Labour government quite astounding.

Labour has only been in power for a few weeks while previous governments did nothing to rectify the appalling level of our pensions.

The UK devotes a smaller percentage of its Gross Domestic Product (wealth) on pensions compared to other advanced economies.

We come 15th from top in the European table and below Bulgaria, Bosnia and Cyprus. (Almond Finance) If ranked much higher virtually no one would require winter fuel payments.

The Tories wasted so much taxpayers’ money on meaningless projects like the scrapped HS2 Rail Link – up to £100bn (BBC), unusable Covid PPE – £1.3bn and Brexit – until 2028 it will cost the UK economy £100bn per year at some £2,000 per household (Bloomberg).

In replacing many public services with private providers, we have higher taxes for poorer outcomes.

Removing the winter payments will save an estimated £1.3bn per year and other alternatives should be found.

However, compared with the eye watering economic mismanagement of the Tory government (with taxes £100bn higher than when they came to office – Institute of Fiscal Studies) which of these is being reported as the greater crime?

Academic research would indicate it takes some two years for any meaningful change in a government’s economic and social policy to become effective.

By all means make Labour accountable in the future – but after only a few weeks it demonstrates knee jerk reactions to say the least.

Tom Parkin, Howden le Wear.

Standing charges

 AM astonished to learn that my standing charges for gas and electricity are going up again to almost £300 each year.

What are the government doing to regulate these costs? To bring this rate down my energy company want me to pay a direct debit to them which will put me in credit with them to the tune of £1,500 each year.

Why is the government allowing the energy companies to behave like bandits?

Nigel Boddy, Darlington.

Access to knives

NOW that the government is trying to crack down on knife crimes, I find it surprising that supermarkets and other outlets have open access to dangerous knives on display.

All cigarettes are safely locked away in cabinets out of display, which I do agree with, as smoking is a real killer, having lost friends and family even through passive smoking (as many others have.) Surely this should be adopted with knives and sharp objects?

How many people have been fatally stabbed with a cigarette?

Harry Newbould, Stokesley.

Declaring income

AS a pensioner, it pains me to read newspaper articles bemoaning the fact that economically active people are not seeking jobs. It’s my opinion that a large body of that population are “working and claiming”. There are examples to be found on building sites, corner shops, and car washes, plus cleaners.

I expect the officers employed to check application forms for benefit are spending too much time working from home rather than visiting applicants’ homes.

It’s a pity that not all of us are honest when declaring income to the authorities.

Malcolm Dunstone, Darlington Location help ILL health has meant that we have had many visits from NHS professionals to our house in a tiny village. We have been very grateful for their valuable help and care.

Some have found our house immediately and made a bee line for it.

Others have struggled, not knowing where the house was within the village. The difference is that the former knew of the maps which show the location of all the houses by name in each village.

I have made 2,762 maps showing the location of 103,042 properties in villages across the northern third of England.

They are available on my website, colinday.co.uk/maps, where they may be viewed, printed or downloaded free of charge.

They are currently used by delivery drivers, GPs, district nurses, estate agents and many others. My biggest problem is getting them known by those who need them.

I hope that a mention in your newspaper will help towards this.

Colin Day, Thornton Rust.

Trouble seekers

POLITICS is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it wrongly and applying unsuitable remedies.

Anyone spring to mind?

Denis Trought, Aiskew, Bedale.

Photo mystery

This picture is a wedding party taken outside a house which we believe is now called 59 Elton Parade, Darlington but we think in earlier years it could have been called Elton Villas.

(Image: Contributor)

In 1881 a branch of my family headed by George David Wilson lived at Elton Villas. He married Sarah Annie Angus in 1875 but in Newcastle.

Do you recognise anyone in the photo? If so I would be very pleased to hear your thoughts.

Heather Hicks (nee Angus), Isle of Wight.

angus15@talktalk.net 01983 730847