Letters - March 21, 2016

I walk there regularly and see the true meaning of dog-walking.

This translates as men and women coming on to the sands and letting their dogs off their leads to run off into the distance. Not just one good little dog properly tethered, but two or three at a time.

Off they go with not a hope or indeed, inclination of having the animals under any semblance of control.

It is no surprise that disgusting dog-muck is everywhere.

There is no hope of fudging the issue by saying there is the usual detritus of waste paper, bags and cans littering the beach, a child does not contract Toxocara from these things. Among other symptoms of this dreadful disease is the damage caused to the eye which featured in the Gazette a few years ago. Who plays with their hands in the sand? Our children !

I have seen this on Fleetwood beach – dogs run on, leave their muck and everyone goes home selfishly happy without a thought for anyone else.

Clear up the muck in their own gardens ? Perish the thought !

Alex

Address supplied

FRACKING

An anniversary we should not celebrate

On the April 1 (April Fool’s Day) we will be celebrating the anniversary of the first seismic event in Blackpool caused by hydraulic fracturing of shale rock in Fylde.

Cuadrilla had been test drilling for shale gas at Preese Hall when the first earth tremor occurred in 2011, followed by around 50 or so other small tremors days later. We were told by the company fracking was not the cause, until an independent geological survey found the frack had caused these events across the Fylde faultline.

Scientists claim to have found evidence that even if earthquakes do not occur directly after water is injected underground, the damage they do to faultlines can lead to tremors being triggered by shockwaves from large earthquakes on the other side of the world. The practice of injecting water underground is commonly used by oil industries, and most recently to extract gas from shale.

Problems with water shortages in Oklahoma led shale companies to re-inject the fracked toxic water and this has now been proved to be the cause of increased earthquakes in the state.

We now have more knowledge of toxic waste water from fracking and the potential for more and increased seismic events.

The likelihood of Cuadrilla gaining permission from the government to test for shale again means we should be aware that more wells means more toxic water shattering the shale fault line across the Fylde, with the risk of more earth tremors likely.

Will the government’s traffic light system really have any effect on preventing these tremors and will all drilling be halted when more arrive?

Marjorie Nye

Knowle Ave

FUTURE

We will be trapped by our own folly

Driverless cars heading for a road near me eh?

Yes, I can well imagine someone about to take delivery of their girl-pulling, wealth announcing, wind in your hair Aston Martin Vulcan applauding this miserable idea.

So we now enter the next phase of state control all in the name of advanced technology – toy technology comes of age I rather think.

No more open road, no more freedom of the Queen’s highway – go where you’re told to go – step out of line at your cost.

What a world to come, trapped by our own folly – but somehow I fancy this nonsense will pass and become the domain of the elderly and the infirm.

Joseph G Dawson

via email

ENTERTAINMENT

We can learn from Brighton’s change

Over the past 20 years I have been visiting Brighton regularly, both as a visitor and as a gigging musician. The regeneration and creative transformation of Brighton is something Blackpool can learn from. Its promotion of arts and culture by the creative visionaries has made Brighton a desirable city.

Comparatively speaking, Brighton is in a fortunate position to be within easy reach of the capital. Nonetheless, Blackpool has greater infrastructure and an entertainment and transport heritage to sell.

Was Blackpool Council right to invest £203,000 on an arts project promenade hotel? The Council is placed in the unenviable position of being ‘damned if they do and damned if they don’t’ over this matter.

Most fair-minded people would agree that Blackpool needs to improve supporting its arts and culture offerings, but councils all over the country are having to play a game of ‘chess’ by making moves and hoping for the best attempting to manage their annual budgets.

Blackpool has a fair share of vacant retail space, some of the freeholds are owned by the local authority. As a community asset space it would be a good idea to offer art groups an empty site as a platform to showcase their talents.

This would attract some fresh faces and some of the disheartened back to Blackpool town centre. Blackpool needs a utopian vision and, fortunately, their are a lot of creatives in the area who can make this happen.

When I moved to London 20 years ago I was inspired by a retired Jewish bespoke Taylor who had fled Germany during the Second World War and his family was broke. He later became very successful. I will always remember his phrase “nice people attract nice people” – how right he was!

Stephen Pierre

Artistic Director

Blackpool Jazz and Blues Festival