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New Blackmore Vale, 18th March 2022
blackmorevale.net
Letters
What will it take for our pleas for slower speed limits to be heard? n We are the residents of Waterloo Lane, Stourton Caundle, and every one of us is driven to anger and frustration every day by the permitted speed of our road, which has become terrifyingly dangerous. In spite of the fact that it states on www.gov.uk/ government/publications/ setting-local-speed-limits/ setting-local-speed-limits, “Traffic authorities continue to have flexibility to set local speed limits that are appropriate for the individual road, reflecting local needs and taking into account of all local considerations”, our local council have so far chosen, despite many pleas, not to implement any measures to better ensure the safety of walkers, cyclists, horse riders, animals and inhabitants. Rural roads such as ours have a speed limit of 60mph, even though our road has many driveways, very narrow single vehicle widths in places, blind bends and blind brows of hills. This is total insanity. When we pull out of our driveways we face the irritation, abuse from – and potential danger of – drivers speeding so fast they have no time to slow down. It is now risking one’s life when walking or cycling around the village. We have had accidents on the road, trees knocked down by cars at night unable to control their speed around bends, people thrown off bikes into hedges,
and 12 cats have been killed in a relatively few years. These animals could have been children, walkers or cyclists. The new law brought in on January 29th creates a “hierarchy of road users” which gives priority to pedestrians and cyclists. Surely, then, the local council are obliged to make it ‘easier’ for drivers to drive legally which they only could at a much slower speed? We need a limit of 20 or 30mph on Waterloo Lane, but far more clearly visible ‘slow’ signs before narrow parts and bends, and 20mph limits before narrow parts and brows of hills, as well as in the village itself. Why do pleas to the local council get refused? E S Williams, on behalf of the residents of Waterloo Lane, Stourton Caundle n Greg Williams, in his Labour diatribe in your February 18 issue, says Boris Johnson fancies himself as a historian. If Mr Williams can distinguish between hindsight and history, he might look at a little history himself. Labour took over in 1997 with a flourishing economy, but left in 2010 with [former chief secretary to the treasury] Liam Byrne’s infamous valedictory message: “Sorry, there’s no money left.” Former Labour PM Tony Blair appointed Frank Field to “think the unthinkable”
on social care, but sacked him when he did so. Then in 2015 Labour put itself in the hands of a man who consorted with the UK’s enemies and took a relaxed approach to anti-Semitism. Labour didn’t seem to know where it stood in recognising or rejecting the Brexit referendum. Mr Williams might profitably put some of his effort into self-examination rather than fussing about parties. Mike Keatinge Highbank Marston Road Sherborne
n There have been two items
Cartoon by Lyndon Wall justsocaricatures.co.uk
of great significance in your magazine. One: an article about Spencer Flower and his plans about meeting the housing needs dictated by this government, in which there is not a single mention of the installation of ‘green’
technology being a planning requirement. Two: a reference to a planning application near Shaftesbury where the developers have offered to install solar panels when they build the houses. It appears it is not that difficult to do. Nobody in power seems to have the slightest awareness of the need to install green technology wherever and whenever possible. Perhaps when the cost of energy rockets following the actions decided by Putin, our leaders will finally wake up. Our solar panels, which did cost money to install, now produce electricity for FREE and that production is not affected by what happens to the energy market, whatever that might be, including the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia. If we really want to protect our energy supplies, we need an integrated energy policy. This will not be achieved by a small number of private companies seeking to maximise their profits and dividend payments. Fracking is drilling for fossil fuels and it’s environmentally very risky, and nuclear power stations take a decade or more to build and centuries to decommission. Apparently, only the French or Chinese can build our nuclear power stations. Green power is domestic, local, entirely within our national boundaries and totally free from what happens on the world market. Do we really want to rely
Writers should limit their letters to 300 words. Unfortunately we don’t have room to publish them all.
