Letters

Letters St Mary’s purchase is an excellent decision

Your correspondent Mr Jeremy Bloomfield (Letters, March 5) is very damning of Dorset Council’s rationale in acquiring St Mary’s School, Shaftesbury. I would urge Mr Bloomfield and others who harbour similar doubts about the council’s investment to think about their key aim of improving the provision of education within the county for young people with special educational needs. There is a fast growing number of children who for diverse reasons cannot cope in mainstream education. This is a major social challenge across the whole country. Our own council has acted very progressively in acquiring this superb school to offer a chance for young people with special needs to get as good a start in life as the privileged pupils who enjoyed St Mary’s in previous years. Why shouldn’t disadvantaged young people have the best? I think this is a terrific move by the council, and St Mary’s is a school of which all Dorset rate payers can be very proud. Stuart Jones Iwerne Minster

n We are grateful to Simon Hoare MP for support after the very distressing experience of having found ourselves erroneously thinking we had sold our property, and therefore committing ourselves to an offer elsewhere, with our buyers then ‘pulling out’. This has left us with not only a tremendous amount of heartache and anxiety but also with the fact that we have let others down through no fault of our own. The buying and selling of houses here in England is fraught with peril – with which Simon Hoare agreed, stating “the system is not fit for purpose” where seemingly would-be buyers (and perhaps vendors too} can and often do 32

Cartoon by Lyndon Wall justsocaricatures.co.uk pull out on the flimsiest of pretexts without any thought to the expense or any compensation already paid out to solicitors etc. The estate agents are equally frustrated and upset on our behalf – they are doing their best under very difficult circumstances. We have lived all over the world and in other countries, an offer is legally binding and a deposit paid, whereafter if either party defaults, quite rightly the deposit is forfeited. We have been told everyone complains about the system, but nobody does anything about it. Well people, it is time to change this nefarious practice and have the law changed, which would benefit everyone concerned. Distressed of Shaftesbury.

n I am afraid that I cannot help Dora in her search for information (NBV, March 5) but those of us who grew up in the area after the last war remember the camp well. Our farmhouse in West Knoyle had a downstairs room known as the ‘prisoners’ room’ as two Germans were billeted there to work on the farm. Escape was the last thing on their minds. Gangs of prisoners were also taken to specific tasks in the neighbourhood They were content just to have a chance to leave the confines of the camp. There were also Poles and Lithuanians at the camp after the war. They were known as DPs, Displaced Persons unable to return home as the Iron Curtain had overrun their countries. These men worked mainly in the building trade and on the farms. Their contribution to the workforce was huge. On our farm we were fortunate to employ one. He remained with us until near retirement. My father offered for him to visit Lithuania when the country eventually opened up and I remember his reply to this day. “Thank your father, John, but I be English now...” John Longley Tisbury

n Andrew Murrison (March 5) clearly does not like energyfrom-waste – at least not on his patch. But he offers no alternative for disposing of nonrecyclable plastics. The options appear to be landfill or export to third-world countries, neither of which we would wish to encourage. The environment debate is bedevilled by those who engage in tunnel vision about one aspect while ignoring the potential conflict with other aspects. Of course, we should be concerned about CO2 emissions, but waste plastic is also one of the worst problems. Indeed we want incinerators to be run to high standards, but surely it is better to generate some return from disposing of waste rather than just burying it. Mike Keatinge Sherborne

n Before anyone imposes more 20mph limits in Dorset, would someone please ensure the existing limits are enforced. Bath Road in Sturminster Newton has nine intersections, and there is no continuous stretch of pavement either side of the road between the High School and the town, so pedestrians have to cross the road at some point before they reach the traffic lights and pedestrian crossing. Numerous cars are parked in the road often obstructing the view of oncoming traffic from drivers coming out of any of the side roads or their own driveways.I would guess at least half the vehicles exceed the speed limit, some by quite a margin. Would whoever is responsible please either install a camera or arrange occasional police checks. Pip Taylor

n Undoubtedly the NHS and health workers are worthy of our admiration and thanks for their efforts during this terrible pandemic. Other sections of the public have also been constant and reliable. I refer to the good folk who work in the supermarkets. They have remained cheerful and helpful in spite of being in danger of contacting covid-19 on a daily basis. Our grandson works in ASDA in Gillingham and he, together with all the other members of the staff have earned our thanks for keeping us watered (with red wine.) All the other supermarkets have also served the public well so thanks to them as well. Well done and many thanks, Ron Lambert Gillingham

n The draft Dorset Local Plan is very long and complex. This is often a sign of undue haste. Well-intentioned efforts have been made to consult the public in these difficult times but they have not amounted to a thorough-going consultation. This is the first plan of a new authority and initial consultations were also limited. We have the second highest ccouncil tax rate in the country. It is less than acceptable to then have second rate outputs. The plan has weak foundations. It is based on 2011 census data, on 2019 economic data and takes no account of the effects of covid, Brexit nor any quantified response to the declared climate emergency. During this year it is also likely there will be new planning system legislation including changes to affordable housing and there will be new environmental actions from COP26. We are told we need the plan quickly to protect us from unwarranted developments. This suggests that having any plan is more important than the right plan. This explains why we mainly see the plans of the former districts rather than fresh input, extensive and intensive local consultation and the development of an integrated approach for the whole county. The targets in the draft plan amount to an annual build of 1,793 houses and an additional almost 30% contingency against failure by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and/or New Forest authorities to meet their targets. Even the lower figure of 30,481 houses over the 17 years of the Plan is considerably above anything achieved in the recent past, is above any clear demographic requirement and is matched by a similarly unsubstantiated target of 21,000 new jobs. There is no rationale for the targets other than being the result of central government formulae. There is little in the draft plan about how we will meet the stretch these targets represent. The worst kind of plan is one that knows it is likely to fail. To enjoy the confidence of all our communities, the Local Plan should comprise those critical few, big ticket strategies to meet a common vision and the core requirements of sustainable growth and a secure land supply. The balance of the plan should then be community-led, in line with current best practice across the nation. Communities across the county have embraced the Neighbourhood Plan process and deserve to be heard. On the jobs front, yes, growth has arisen in financial services and in associated digital systems and services. The focus for both has been predominantly, although not exclusively, in BCP. There is a major national concern about future employment and revenues as a result of Brexit and there is bound to be a hiatus in the sector. The county’s agricultural economy will undergo change as the UK moves to a new regime under environmental land management, coupled with changes resulting from Brexit affecting key sectors. There needs to be a deep dialogue with the sector and the development of strategies that address food production, climate change, tourism and rural employment on an integrated basis. Failure in this sector could be catastrophic for the character of the county. The combined effect of Brexit and covid may result in a greater demand for tourism and tourist accommodation and activity in Dorset; there may also be even greater demand for retirement and/or second homes in the county. The draft plan is silent on such effects and the required transport and services. The pace of this draft plan process, its uncertain foundations and the minimal time for consultation all undermine its strength and, more importantly, undermine democracy and democratic accountability. Mike Chapman Deputy Chair, North Dorset Liberal Democrats

Harriet’s a super snapper!

Our daughter Harriet Atkins, who is 10 years old, managed to take these perfectly timed and amazing pictures of her pet baby lambs Poppy & Rambo. We thought they were such fantastic photographs. It is Harriet’s 11th birthday on Thursday, March 11 and it would make her day to see her photographs make the local paper as she is a very keen photographer. Shaun & Lisa Atkins