‘High Wycombe looks like a third world country’

Being in my mid-seventies and living in Wycombe most of my life, I’m wondering when they’re going to change our name from HIGH Wycombe to LOW Wycombe, because whereas ‘Once upon a Time’ our local environment was clean, swept, tidy, looked after and very welcoming, it’s now starting to resemble a third world country, or a third world county…

Our roads and pavements are in desperate need of repair and resurfacing, our verges borders and hedgerows have been left to overgrow with weeds and vegetation, due to council cut backs and not using a direct and caring council employed labour force, but by using contract employees whose job is task and finish with very little (look-back) care or finesse…

Also, when the grass verges are finally cut back, a guy follows on with a handheld blower to blow the grass cuttings and debris into the road, (probably to stop pedestrians from slipping on pathway surfaces), but all these cuttings are washed down (or clog up) our drains, if they make it that far as many kerbs and kerbsides are weed infested and this has already stopped the natural flow of surface water into the drains anyway and this encourages flooding.

It doesn’t matter from which direction we or our visitors’ approach Wycombe, it looks uncared-for, unkempt and in urgent need for some attentive attention.

We (our council) have spent thousands of pounds on new road layouts and so-called road and junction improvements, maybe I’ll ignite one or two Wycombe residents to also write to you about ‘road improvements’ especially around the law courts and Cressex Road which was shut down for weeks.

Finally, (for this time, as I haven’t put pen to paper for quite a few years) whilst on the subject of roads, verges and weed growth, I often travel down Amersham Hill into Wycombe, let me ask the question concerning the so-called gravel filled left hand escape lane, constructed to allow a car to drop its inside wheels into, as an aide to braking and stopping if the vehicle is on a full (can’t stop) charge down the hill, to stop it safely in this additional safety lane…

Question - for someone to give a meaningful answer – please. With all the weeds and vegetation growing on and within the loose gravel, (if one can see the gravel) will it still stop a car or has the self-seeded years of growth and eyesore, acted to bind the area together, giving a more solid surface that the vehicle’s tyres would skip and drive over, rather than what it was designed to do.

Hopefully, you’re not that person who has the misfortune to have to use it in an emergency in the future.

Note to council - please clear up your mess so I can once again feel proud enough to ask my visitors to come visit me and that I live in HIGH Wycombe…

Name withheld, Totteridge

Poverty is a challenge for us all

The UN‘s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17 will not hit the headlines, which continue to be dominated by the Brexit debate. Will there be a deal or no deal and what will it cost the country? The government’s own statistics make clear that in particular a no-deal Brexit will have severe economic consequences for the country. Just how bad it could get is a matter of conjecture. What is beyond doubt is that it will spell more misery, on a prolonged basis, for the 14.2 million people living below the poverty line in the UK. This is defined as subsisting on less than 60 per cent of average earnings: around £16,000 a year.

For many of us it is hard to imagine what such subsistence living is like. Most of us aren’t asked to turn our minds to it. If we remember to buy something for the food bank, when we visit the supermarket, we feel we are helping. But effective and sustained help to lift people out of poverty is beyond our individual reach.

Or is it? We can and should all work together to try to prevent the economic damage which leaving the EU will do.

In Amersham and Chesham there was a strong vote in the 2016 referendum to remain in the EU. If we are to see real change and the improvement in the lives of the poor in our community, we must commit to a strong economy which will afford realistic and long term opportunities for them. And that means keeping all the economic advantages of EU membership.

A report from the Resolution Foundation published in May this year revealed that relative child poverty has been rising for those born over the last decade compared to their predecessors. Children born between 2016 and 2020 are facing the joint-highest rates of early years poverty in 60 years, with more than 35 per cent expected to be living in poverty at age two.

So much has changed since June 2016 (when no one born this century had a vote). Whatever the “will “of the people who voted for Brexit may have been then, I believe that in a further referendum it would be possible to debate that Brexit will increase the numbers that will live in poverty.

I have confidence that the greater number of us, including those now eligible to vote, would not vote to increase poverty and further inflict it on the already poor. Nor pass it on to another generation.

Daniel Gallagher, Parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats in Chesham and Amersham

Climate change cannot be ignored

So, Steve Baker thinks it’s OK to retweet lies about those he disagrees with politically if it is “fair satirical comment”. I refer specifically to his refusal to apologise for retweeting the claim that Extinction Rebellion had a massive power generator at its camp site in Hyde Park, a claim that was a complete fabrication, and to him following that up with unfounded allegations about damage and litter caused by the protesters, whom he accuses of “hypocrisy” (MP Baker accused of ‘spreading fake news’, BFP, October 18, page 2). This was no “fair satirical comment”, but an outright and outrageous lie, designed deliberately to deceive.

I’m sure that if Mr Baker were to examine my lifestyle he would find plenty of reasons to accuse me too of hypocrisy, but I would far rather by a hypocrite who cares about the future of the planet and the wellbeing of the people who live on it than someone who just doesn’t give a damn.

Perhaps if Mr Baker would like to engage with people whose views he does not share he would start to understand his constituents a little better. Maybe I could assist by helping him to understand the rock-solid science that explains the man-made climate emergency and the need for urgent action to move rapidly – much more rapidly than anyone in the government is yet willing to contemplate – to a zero-carbon economy. After all, the science will not stop being true just because he chooses to ignore it. I could add that, despite what the prime minister said, I don’t smell of hemp.

Steve Morton, High Wycombe

Thank you for your kind donations

On Saturday, October 12, a street collection was held in Marlow town centre. I am delighted to say that, despite the very rainy day, an excellent £590 was raised for Rennie Grove Hospice Care. Thank you to our wonderful collectors and generous members of the public.

Rennie Grove Hospice Care provides specialist care and support for adults and children diagnosed with cancer and other life-limiting illness and their families in the Chilterns area of Bucks and North West Herts.

Linda Niven, RGHC Fundraising Volunteer

Queen's speech offers a glimpse into Boris's vision

Last week I wrote about the Domestic Abuse Bill for which I am pleased to say, has continued its progress, despite prorogation.

This week’s Queens Speech offered a view into our Prime Minister’s vision for a global, one nation United Kingdom that works for everyone with his optimism and true belief in our country.

As someone whose daughter and father rely heavily on the NHS, I was delighted to see a new Bill which will ensure that our NHS has access to innovative medicines which previously might not have been available, alongside measures to help implement the NHS’s Long Term Plan which was introduced in January 2019. This Medicines and Medical Devices Bill will promote our thriving life sciences industry and create further collaboration with the NHS to enable more home grown and manufactured products to be developed post Brexit. Furthermore, as you all know there is already a firm commitment to build 40 new hospitals, with a £33.9 billion a year increase in NHS spending by 2023 / 2024.

People I know are sick and tired of hearing about criminals being let out too early from prison. This is why Boris wants to shake up criminal sentencing – this will ensure that those serious, violent and sexual offenders will now spend more of their sentences in prison. This will be done by ensuring that those with sentences of four years or more will not be eligible for release until they have served at least two-thirds of their sentence. Put simply, offenders need to be spending more time behind bars. Otherwise, victims will lose confidence and trust in our judicial and criminal system.

But of course, we cannot tackle crime without our police, and we must back them. This is why I was particularly pleased to see this government acknowledge the bravery and sacrifices that our men in blue make every day in our local communities by bringing in a ‘police covenant’, much like the protections given to members of our armed forces. This will hopefully affirm how our communities respect and value those in the Thames Valley Police force who protect us all.

And of course, there is Brexit, the focus here is around a Bill which allows for a deal with Brussels to be legislated, alongside arrangements for a transition period, EU nationals’ rights, and a protocol for Northern Ireland. Legislation will also be tabled so that we can make the most of a post Brexit Global Britain - on our fishing, farming, various export industries and financial services.

The government is also introducing a new Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination Bill which will end free movement and deliver a truly fair and modern point-based immigration system that will attract the best and brightest; allowing hardworking immigrants like my parents who believe in Britain to come from across the world and to be part of our society.

Gigabit broadband internet will no doubt play a role in our future. It allows us to unlock huge economic growth and transform our way of life even further. The government’s announcement to accelerate the fast broadband internet network rollout will level out the digital playing field which traditionally hampers towns outside of London and those in rural communities. More importantly, this will ensure our global economic competitiveness.

What this all means for us, our children and area is that that we are planning and ready for a Global Britain; one that is trading internationally, utilising its modern and innovative industries and investing in our future.

Jackson Ng, chairman, Beaconsfield Constituency Conservative Association

Bucks children deserve a fair education

Mr Simon Dudley may gloat about Maidenhead pupils taking 150 Bucks grammar school places each year. (‘Beware the Enemies of Aspiration’ BFP letters, October 18).

However, it is regrettable that Buckinghamshire parents are denied the aspirational opportunities afforded by the comprehensive education system available in Maidenhead, which would allow their children to enjoy the equality of opportunity and resources that are standard and available in a comprehensive system.

Aspirations are achieved by ensuring all pupils are able to progress to the best of their abilities during their secondary school years. The restrictive practice of selective education in Bucks fails to give all pupils the fair and equal education opportunities they deserve.

If aspiration in education means better results for a greater proportion of pupils, then comprehensive schools are the answer.

In the meantime, if we were to follow Mr Dudley’s views, Bucks pupils would benefit from having the 150 places currently given to Maidenhead children.

D. Berry, High Wycombe