This is what you have been writing to us about this week.

To send your own letter, email bfpletters@london.newsquest.co.uk.

Please note, any letters sent to the Bucks Free Press office are only being picked up periodically as all staff are still working from home.

LETTER OF THE WEEK: Impressed by vaccine operation at Adams Park

What an impressive operation at Adams Park football ground.

Met all the way by smiley faces, good humour and speedy turn around.

My thanks and congratulations to ALL the volunteers and ‘dart players’ at Adams Park Football ground on February 7, who turned what I thought would be a complete nightmare into a hugely organised, quick, easy, painless occasion.

Congratulations to all of you. Keep up the good work.

And thanks of course to Wycombe Wanderers Football Club for providing the venue.

J Everson, Penn

Agree with letter about not dumping rubbish

Oh how I agree with the letter from John McGeenham in the BFP (February 5, ‘Take rubbish home to recycle it’) concerning the dumping of rubbish around our countryside.

This won’t be the first and no doubt won’t be the last time I have written in this letters column about the disgusting and so unnecessary habit that people have of dropping litter, beer cans, vodka bottles, fast food packaging, sweet wrappers and just about anything else they have to hand.

John called them morons, I can think of many more adjectives to describe the scum in our society that couldn’t give a hoot about why we think their actions are so distasteful.

Why would you not think it would be a good idea to look for a rubbish bin to put your empty carton in or even just take it home with you, possibly even recycle it!

In January 2019, I asked readers through these columns to please be more mindful of their surroundings, their homes and gardens.

I suggested that, as is the practice in Austria, everyone should take responsibility for the front area outside their property - yes, including the pavement and gutter, sweep it and pick up the rubbish. 

You will be surprised how much difference it can make and would only take but a few minutes to complete.

Maybe even do as John suggested and actually venture further afield to pick up litter too.

Sadly councils these days never seem to have a budget to carry out the job as it should be done, even though we still contribute our taxes in the hope they would.

Has anyone ever heard of somebody being fined for dropping litter? Who is it that might be out there to actually catch someone doing it? If such an occasion did arise just how much of a punishment would they get?

Whatever the fine is I bet it’s not enough to discourage them from doing it again.

Why people think it’s acceptable to throw rubbish from their vehicles onto verges where the road meets roundabouts, especially it would seem after the exits from motorway junctions, it is a very sorrowful sight.

I hope that some of you who do so just might be reading this and maybe get prevented from ever doing it again. 

Roy Craig, address withheld

‘Why do roads in Buckinghamshire flood so much?’

We moved to Chalfont St Peter 18 months ago from Kent, to be near to our sons and their families.

Despite the restrictions imposed by Covid-19, the move has been a great success. We love the village and surrounding area.

READ MORE: Father says children can't walk to school because of flooding

However two things puzzle me. Firstly, after almost any rainfall many roads seem to flood.

Examples include the junction of Welders Lane/Narcot Lane, Narcot Lane closer to Chalfont St Giles, sections of A40 between Gerrards Cross and Beaconsfield, plus I’m sure many others. 

Why is this? A lack of investment/maintenance of the drainage system? Having lived on the flood plain of River Medway in Tonbridge for many years, nothing like these problems were encountered.

Secondly, I see in the centre of villages and towns around, signs that suggest the speed limit is 20mph, but these signs do not seem to be official. 

Over the past five years or so, the councils of Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge have adopted a strict, and with superb signage, 20mph speed limit on all roads in those towns. 

Is this something that the local council here might adopt? We live on Nicol Road, where the speed limit of 30mph is flagrantly exceeded constantly, and maybe a fatality or two might see some changes?

Howard Dawson, Chalfont St Peter

Be your own boss by starting a business

Many people have been forced to reassess their life plans in the last 12 months, but some of these new plans can be for the better.

It can feel nigh on impossible to see a silver lining to anything experienced recently, but what if you could put a positive spin on a negative and use it to shape the rest of your life in a way that made you happy?

Redundancy has been a feature of the pandemic. With employers forced into making difficult decisions, many people have lost their jobs, with further losses still expected. 

One way for people to rebound from this and begin the next phase of their career is to start their own business. 

While this can seem daunting, there is support every step of the way, from assessing a business idea and finding potential customers to making sales.

While some may shy away from the thought of starting a business in these times, the truth is there is never a perfect time to start a business. 

The last year has brought about many innovative solutions to new problems, and finding solutions to problems is exactly why a business starts in the first place. 

Perhaps you saw something during the last year that you thought could be done better; a process or service that could be improved, a useful device that doesn’t exist yet, a way of doing things that no one is doing yet.

Your vision, your rules. And when it all comes together, it is your achievement. You lead from the front and bring others with you.

Buckinghamshire has a high rate of start-up businesses. As we seek to build back better and stronger from the effects of the last year, Buckinghamshire Business First wants to ensure that every business that can succeed does so, and that every person with a business dream is able to access the support they need to achieve it.

The Be Your Own Boss business start-up programme is being supported by five local Community Boards and delivered by Buckinghamshire Business First to help those thinking of starting up or already in the very early stages of a new venture. 

This service includes workshops, networking and one-to-one support and advice. 

The step from employment to self-employment is a big one, but looks far more manageable once you discover all of the help available.

This can be the year you make your own decisions, follow your own dreams and be your own boss.

Visit www.bbf.uk.com/byob for more information and to see if you qualify for support.

You can also call 01494 927130 or email BusinessSupport@bbf.uk.com.

Philippa Batting, Buckinghamshire Business First

Praying for everyone who is suffering

Our world has changed, 
And our lives have changed, 
Like never before and families suffering, 
Every day and I feel your pain and our,
Happiness has gone away and it’s only pain today, 
Hiding our tears as they fall in the rain,
Saying I’m fine when I’m anything but fine,
And when will this heartache ever go away,
And indeed my skin is on fire,
My skin is burning within me and,
No more hugs or kisses today it’s,
Just sadness for the world today,
Coronavirus is here,
And it’s taken so many loved ones away, 
And loneliness really hurts you,
It kills you deep inside and I’m lost without you in my life and, 
The world has changed so much, 
Coronavirus is not going away, 
And darkness surrounds the world, 
And it’s so cold and painful, 
And our warm hugs, 
Have all faded away, 
Just like our loved every day, 
And nobody to hold more and I watch, 
As a lonely tear rolls down my face, 
But I promise you all I’ll love, 
And pray for everyone, 
Who’s suffering from coronavirus, 
Every day.

David P Carroll, address withheld 

Regularly maintain England’s rivers to help mitigate flooding

Undertaking regular maintenance of England’s main rivers would help improve flooding in rural areas.

Recent storms have wreaked havoc across rural communities, damaging agricultural land and businesses as well as people’s homes.

READ MORE: Flood victims ‘walking through sewage’ told to ‘hold breath’

The Government, as part of its 2020 Budget, pledged £5.2 billion funding for flood risk reduction - earmarked specifically for new infrastructure.

But the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents 28,000 rural businesses across England and Wales, estimates an extra £75 million per year is needed for maintenance of flood-risk assets to help stave off flooding.

The CLA says 3.7 million acres of land in England and Wales are at risk from flooding.

Many farmers and businesses have suffered catastrophic consequences of flooding from extreme weather events, and it could get worse.

In many rural areas the key issue is not a need for new infrastructure, but the fact that flood defences on main rivers are not being consistently maintained by the Environment Agency. 

This greatly increases the pressure on land managers who farm alongside main rivers, and those who manage flood risk further upstream – such as internal drainage boards.

For flood risk management to be effective, everyone must play their part, and currently the Environment Agency is vastly under resourced. 

For this reason, the CLA is calling for extra funding specifically to help the Environment Agency uphold their statutory responsibility to mitigate flood risk.

Right now, some farmland is used to store water to protect communities downstream from further flooding. 

This is saving potentially millions of pounds’ worth of damage to local homes and businesses, but in the vast majority of cases it’s done without compensation. 

Whatever crop happens to be standing in those fields is lost.

While acts like these help the community, it still leaves a big hole for many flood-hit businesses in the countryside which is why the government needs to come forward with this extra investment to help mitigate the risk of flooding altogether.

Mark Bridgeman, President, Country Land and Business Association (CLA)