Fenland Citizen letters – August 18, 2020
What a wonderful front page for the Citizen last week (Town thanks Joseph (15) for his clean-up effort).
More importantly, what an AMAZING YOUNG MAN. If he has this character and desire to make his community a better place at 15, we cannot imagine what he will progress to in the next few years.
Who needs to worry about University degrees?..certainly not him, bless him.
Chatteris folk are very fortunate to have such a person among them. And his parents are well-deserving of a mention – they have done a grand job raising him and must feel so proud and rightly so.
It is so good that the amount of money has been raised for him.
I hope he gets much pleasure and enjoyment choosing new tools, and lots of satisfaction from using them.
You are an inspiration to us all Joseph,
VERY WELL DONE!
Daphne Askew
via email
Definitely not time to legalise this gateway drug
With reference to the edition 12/08/20, with the juxtaposition of two stories concerning the seizure of illegally grown cannabis, and John Smithee’s letter, ‘All drugs need to be legalised and regulated’ repeating his letter from 24/10/21018 ‘Time to make drugs legal’ , I feel I should have the right to readdress the points I made in my letter from 31/10/2018.
Regarding research and medical use, in 2014 in the US , the National Academies of Sciences , Engineering and Medicine(NASEM) reported on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids. Their conclusion was that for the majority of conditions there was inadequate evidence to assess the effects of cannabis. However, they did find sufficient evidence that adults with chronic pain were more likely to experience a clinically significant reduction in pain symptoms and may improve short-term sleep, including those with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Despite evidence that cannabis may have some medical benefits, it has been linked to mental health problems, such as anxiety, memory loss, panic attacks and psychotic episodes. I recommend that all parents of teenagers read ‘The Effects of Cannabis on the Adolescent Brain’(this is on NHS public access and peer-reviewed and accepted for publication).
There is also the risk of addiction and that cannabis is a gateway drug.
A number of countries have legalised access to medicinal cannabis. However, in the UK, cannabis is a class B drug and other than its use in medical trials, it is illegal to possess, cultivate or supply it. The maximum penalty for possession is five years in prison, plus an unlimited fine, while the maximum penalty for supplying cannabis is 14 years in prison and an unlimited fine.
It is NOT “time to legalise all drugs”
Lavinia Powerstock
Leverington Common
Changes could lead to slum homes
The Government will introduce a national charge for developers – replacing the existing Section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy – to fund projects such as schools, roads and GP surgeries, with a fixed proportion of affordable homes in a development.
This will stop local opponents blocking development in designated growth zones.
Critics say the changes could lead to “bad-quality housing” and loss of local control.
Plans had prompted disquiet among Tory MPs. Also, the Government wants to change the way developers contribute to the cost of building affordable housing and new infrastructure in every new project.
This is a developers’ charter, frankly, taking councils and communities out of it.
And on affordable housing, which is the critical issue, it says nothing. In fact, it removes the initiatives that were there for affordable housing. Alan Jones, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, said: “While there’s no doubt the planning system needs reform, these shameful proposals do almost nothing to guarantee the delivery of affordable, well-designed and sustainable homes.”
He said that taken together with moves to allow more commercial premises to be converted into homes without planning permission, “there’s every chance they could also lead to the creation of the next generation of slum housing”. There was disquiet on the Conservative benches about the Government’s proposals, with one MP predicting “quite a battle” on the issue. Builders will also be allowed to convert a wider range of commercial properties into homes – despite criticism in a government-commissioned report. The chair of the Local Government Association said the idea that planning was a barrier to house building was “a myth”.
“Nine in ten planning applications are approved by councils, while more than a million homes given planning permission in the last decade have not yet been built,” he said.
“Only last week the Government’s own independent report warned of the worse quality of homes not delivered through the planning system.
“We urge the government to heed these warnings and not further sideline the planning process.”
The changes being brought forward this week are expected to only impact England as national planning policy is devolved to administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Existing policy has led to poor quality and cramped flats with low quality of life for their residents.
John White
Wisbech
Why we won’t be involved in the future
My wife and I would like to thank all of the public for their nice comments while we were planting ,weeding and watering up at the Chatteris pocket park over the last 18 months or so.
After initially supplying and planting the soft fruit, budlejas, roses and rhododendrons for the Necta area, we turned to 20 new quickthorn to start replacing the field boundary.
During the heatwave we brought down some watering cans and 650 litres of water in barrels to keep the plants alive.
We originally joined the group as the ethos was to create a community park where we involved members of the public and children in creating features at the park, instead of a a vanity project for a select few.
The Necta area was to be created so groups of children could attend with special cards and identify the colours and names of insects.
It was also the idea that the wildlife pond would attract groups of children for pond dipping with nets. With cards, they could also identify the newts, dragonflys, etc.
It was also our intention to fund a new doggy poo bag dispensing machine and stand for the pocket park.
We also offered to fund a new traditional type park bench at a cost of £600, supply 40 quickthorn, and also supply plants to extend the Necta area. However, the offer was turned down.
It soon became apparent, with the lack of maintenance and grass cutting, that the ethos was changing from a park to a wild, scrubby woodland instead.
This became apparent with the frenzied planting of native trees .
The original plan was to leave the centre of the park free of trees so up to 30 smaller, compact cherry blossom-type trees could be planted.
However, that didn’t transpire in practice.
Originally my wife and I could be found hoeing around the pond to keep it weed-free and tidy.
However, we were then told it wasn’t worth it so we decided to do no more with the pond.
I also offered to make some railings for the back of the Metalcraft FenTiger to stop people climbing on it, as well as drawings to create new features for the park and create the fish sculpture.
However, I was also working on a design for a Necta area sculpture and a large, engraved, commemorative key for the grand opening, along with free toys and cans of drinks for the children at the opening.
However, as the purpose/aim of the park has changed to a low maintenance woodland, we feel there is no point in wasting our valuable free time and effort any longer if we are not creating the park for children, etc.
So it is with a heavy heart, as well as a difference of opinion in the direction of the park’s progress and the group’s lack of vision, that we have decided to leave the pocket park at the end of this season and moved on to pastures new.
We shall still attend the park and walk our dog with all the great people and friends we have made at the pocket park.
Mark Burton
Chatteris
We need a new party on the left
It comes as no surprise to me that so many former Jeremy Corbyn supporters are now supporters of Sir Keir Starmer.
My experience of the former Corbynistas and now Starmerites in Fenland’s Labour Party is that most of them are just middle class liberals, not socialists.
We need a new left party in which its parliamentary candidates are selected by constituencies, not party HQ, and that they stand for a socialist programme and will live, if elected, on a workers’ wage.
In seeking to be a ‘loyal opposition’ and stooge of US imperialism, Sir Keir Starmer just agrees with everything that Boris Johnson does, apart from minor criticism which does not cost too much.
Whereas poll after poll shows that 70 per cent of people want a wealth tax on the rich and super-rich to pay for COVID-19 borrowing, Sir Keir Starmer is against it.
Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘long game’ will not pay off. Labour’s refusal to support a second referendum in Scotland means that north of the border, Labour is toast.
Similarly, Labour now has little support outside London and the university cities.
In addition to the fallout from COVID-19 in the form of mass redundancies, we also have a no deal Brexit coming along the track on December 31.
There are also 250,000 families at immediate risk of homelessness due to being evicted for COVID-19 rent arrears.
Mass poverty, unemployment and homelessness, combined with a no deal Brexit, is a toxic mix.
This is why we need a new, left-leaning political party.
John Smithee
Wisbech
