Letters - February 16, 2017

The Wyre dog warden has been out and cleared a lot of the mess up around Stoneway Road but the North Drive /Meadow Croft area are targets.

This has to be the very same selfish ignorant person who is letting their dog foul, you can’t blame the dog. We always have poo bags in our pockets, even when we go out without the dog, and always pick up after her.

Walking your dog in the dark is an absolute nightmare.

i just wish we could catch the culprit owner

Dianne McCall

Via email

HOUSING

We’ve had our fill of new housing here

As a resident of Warton I am upset to hear that the Government has allowed another 400 houses to be built in the village.

Warton Parish Council has tried for many years to get in place a neighbourhood plan for the village but time and time again has been ignored by Fylde Council. A lot of hard work has been put in by Julie Brickles and Jessica Ashworth and team to work with the developers and the residents, but sadly no one seems to have listened.

Next they will be building on Birchwood adding more to Lytham Road. Fylde Council chose not to speak at the appeal last year, but sadly just sat there listening.

Surely Lytham Road is busy enough and would struggle to take more traffic.

Houses in the present developments do not seem to sell as quickly as they should.

Maybe it’s because fracking is only one mile away (as the crow flies).

Let’s hope the developers inform the potential new house buyers of this fact.

David 
Hoyle

Lytham Road

Warton

FRACKING

We turn a blind eye to too many things

In answer to David Haythorthwaite’s rather sneering comments questioning both the local opposition to fracking and commitment of those who do turn up.

He visited the site on a Saturday when there was presumably no work being carried out - one of the aims of the protesters is to prevent or hinder the work.

The evidence from America is there for all to see, fracking IS a dirty and dangerous business. The fact there are relatively few protesters is a sad indictment of our greedy, self obsessed society. We turn a blind or indifferent eye to poverty, nuclear waste, pollution of the oceans, greed, obscene spending on horrific weapons, political corruption - the list is never ending.

Fracking will be just one more issue where future generations will ask “why did we let it happen?”

Well the vast majority of us are letting it happen so those few people who are giving their time in a futile and frustrating attempt to prevent yet another economically driven disaster from happening should be treated as heroes. That is almost certainly how history will see them. As for missing out on the chance of a free coffee and a chat with the patronising Mr Haythorthwaite, I don’t think they missed much.

Paul Burton

Blackpool

IMMIGRATION

Grandma’s 
wisdom of old

Through my childhood and teens in the 40s and 50s, I was regaled by stories and sayings from my grandmother.

Having survived two world wars, bringing up a family and taking care of a disabled husband in later life without any of today’s generous benefits, she remained a believer in looking after your own.

She would often point a finger in my direction and advise me with the words “now then lad, just remember charity begins at home”.

It’s a pity she was never employed as adviser to successive UK governments.

As the NHS creaks under unprecedented numbers of users and limited funding, we give away £12 billion to other countries each year.

If it was used to make things better in our troubled world, there might be some justification. Evidence of widespread abuse and corruption, however, suggests otherwise. Grandma’s homespun advice would be ‘give it to the NHS’.

At a swoop, their problems would be eased. She might well add that it was also helping other countries without any of the current abuse.

After all, beneficiaries would include 650,000 immigrants entering the UK each year from all over the world.

If my grandma had thought that one day, elderly UK citizens would have to compete for NHS resources with health tourists ripping them off for £35m she would have had a fit.

That the UK pays out £674m per year for the treatment of UK citizens in Europe whilst receiving only £49m in return would have left grandma raging at the incompetence and inefficiency of successive governments.

Like she often said, ‘them daft so and so’s in Parliament have no common sense and no idea how ordinary people live’.

Lindon Dove,

via email

VALENTINE’S DAY

What’s love got to do with it? Not a lot!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all in favour of showing your love to a partner.

But like every festival - be it Christmas, Easter or Mother’s Day - Valentine’s Day been irrevocably tainted by commercialism. Now it’s a stick to beat people with if they don’t waste their money.

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