Letters to the Fenland Citizen – July 29, 2020 edition
I am quite astonished you printed that letter
Having just opened my copy of the Fenland Citizen dated July 22, I was astonished to read a letter by a man called Mark Burton of Chatteris declaring his support for the construction of the largest incinerator in Britain, planned for Wisbech.
What a hypocritical and ill thought out declaration considering that Chatteris rejected a proposal to build one there!
I am astonished that you had the lack of foresight in printing it as the man literally does not know what he is talking about.
MP Stephen Barclay, like the population of Wisbech, is radically apposed to the scheme and I can assure you and him that the Conservatives will lose the vote from all its constituents here should the Government ride roughshod over the population of Wisbech and build the monstrosity.
The man has not thought through the logistics of it as I doubt very much indeed that the railway system would be equipped for it across the country as it would mean handling the waste products at least twice.
The proposal by MVV is to use the roads, with over 16,500 diesel lorry movements a year to and from the town.
On top of that he would be able to see Wisbech quite clearly from Chatteris with a chimney over 95 metres in height.
John Barnes
Elm
EDITOR: The Fenland Citizen stands side by side with our readers against the incinerator. However, that does not mean we will not allow people to put their own views across.
Incinerator will come long before railway
Regarding the letter: ‘Incinerator people could give rail scheme a cash boost’.
The other day some propaganda from MVV Medworth came through my letterbox.
Presumably it has dropped through other readers’ letterboxes as well.
It claims to be a newsletter and outlines how it will meet some of the objections already raised about the proposed incinerator.
Of course, we all know that developers, whatever they are developing, don’t keep to their promises and with a Secretary of State under a bit of a cloud for siding with a developer in Tower Hamlets, they might be in with a chance because fine words, not fine deeds, seem to be all that is required to get a development up and running. Oh, and money, which they have plenty of.
On its front page, the newsletter shows a grinning, unshaven man it says is the managing director of MVV Medworth.
In a red company jacket with a MVV logo to suggest he’s a regular working guy, the look on the man’s face communicates to me the message: “If you bunch of mugs believe this then you’ll believe anything. We’re going to make a mint out of abusing your home town!”
I notice that there is a letter offering some support to MVV Medworth written by Mark Burton of Chatteris, which is quite some distance away from the proposed incinerator.
Mark is obviously a decent individual who looks to avoid confrontation and meet people halfway but the people at MVV Medworth are not like him.
I cannot help but think of them as rapacious unfeeling developers whose word I would not trust further than I could throw Robert Jenrik (although it might be Alok Sharma I’d have to throw, who rumour now has it will be the minister to make the final decision.)
The incinerator will be up and running long before any railway is built. Network Rail, as they have been known to, may drag their feet over allowing the scheme to proceed.
Ely Cathedral spire, which if it can be seen from Chatteris would be a pleasure to behold. The incinerator chimney will be taller than the Ely spire and not a pleasure to behold from Wisbech. (I wonder if it will be seen from Chatteris.)
It is possible that the railway may not be built but assuming it is, what is being proposed in Mark’s letter is that waste could come by rail, obviating the need for hundreds of daily lorry trips.
But the waste would come from all points of the compass and the Wisbech line is a single track line from March.
How will the waste get onto the railway? Only by lorries driving extra miles from wherever, all the way to March or Ely or Cambridge to unload onto rail in those towns.
And anything from Norfolk and parts of Lincolnshire and Suffolk and waste passing through these counties will come straight to Wisbech by lorry – so no respite for us whether rail is used or not. I can’t see those lorries driving extra miles to March to unload
And what then of the March residents? How will they feel about having hundreds of lorries descending on them?
And if all waste from all points of the compass were indeed put on rail we would need a huge marshalling yard built at March or Ely or Cambridge to build up the train to travel on the single line track to Wisbech!
I am forced by the logic of all the above to say there is no solution to the incinerator except that there is to be no incinerator!
David Silver
Wisbech
Landlords and letting agents need to take note
A disabled single mother who became homeless has won a landmark court case that ruled she was unlawfully discriminated against.
The case was the first time a court has ruled that the so-called ‘No DSS’ rule operated by many private landlords breached equality laws.
The No DSS rule has prevented hundreds of thousands of people from renting homes over the years.
The court heard that the mother-of-two – referred to in the ruling as Jane – was turned down for several properties by a letting agency.
This was because of its long-standing blanket policy of not renting to people in receipt of universal credit or other social security benefits.
The ruling was welcomed by the housing charity Shelter as a “nail in the coffin” of the ‘No DSS’ rule – an archaic reference to the former Department for Social Security.
Shelter, who fought the case, said: “It finally clarifies that discriminating against people in need of housing benefits is not just morally wrong, it is against the law.”
Five similar cases brought by the charity in recent years were settled out of court in Shelter’s favour.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission, which supported the case, said: “‘No DSS’ policies by landlords and estate agents clearly discriminate against many women and disabled people, as we saw in Jane’s case.”
We should never see ‘No DSS’ or ‘No H/B’ (Housing Benefit) in a letting advert ever again. Landlords, letting agents, and estate agents in Fenland, please take note.
John Smithee
Wisbech
Reasons why railway line is not needed
I see from your latest report that the March to Wisbech railway project is now more likely to go ahead, at vast public cost.
There are so many questions unanswered.
Where are all the passengers coming from that would fill two trains an hour?
Why is the option of “heavy rail service” preferred? (Over a cable car system, for example.)
Am I right to ask if a new station will be built halfway to be called Luddite’s Halt?
With the post COVID-19 move to people working from home won’t there be fewer commuters?
In an era when houses are desperately needed how can the destruction of 19 houses be justified?
David Thomas
Guyhirn
