Your Letters
To the Editor:I have just read The Newsletter for July. I was very sad to hear of the death of Harry Potter, the beloved cat of Oliver and Georgina Napier-Munn from Swan Bottom. I really do understand their concerns about speeding cars in our area: the problem is getting worse by the month.
I heartily agree that the 30mph speed limit should be extended through Swan Bottom and even all down Rocky Lane to the A413. However, I am sorry to say that the majority of the vehicles using our road still completely ignore even the short stretch that was imposed recently.
I live at Chiltern Cottage at the top of Rocky Lane and our garden runs all along the roadside. Very frequently it is absolutely terrifying to hear the speed at which some of the vehicles travel past our house in what is supposed to be a 30mph zone. I can say categorically that most of them behave as if the speed limit did not exist at all.
I would like to see one of the flashing signs installed somewhere along the stretch past our house: the solar driven ones are quite discreet these days and certainly make motorists slow down (for example the one at the entrance to Wendover, although I believe there are smaller ones available nowadays).
I can already hear the protests from the population of The Lee about the ‘spoiling of the countryside with all these notices etc.’ but the fact remains we live in a fast-moving and very busy part of the country and all too many people drive their cars much too fast in inappropriate places. We have to deal with this problem in a 21st century manner and for the safety of all the local people and my neighbours, I would welcome a speed indicator sign, even if it is right outside my house. Not pleasant but an absolute necessity now I am afraid, before someone is badly injured.
I really sympathise with the children who have to pick up buses along there too: it must be awful. Many motorists have no regard for pedestrians whatsoever. I have noticed too that the speeding motorists are both male and female and of different age groups. No particular group of drivers is to blame – just far too many of them!!!!
I am about to email our MP Cheryl Gillan to see if we can get the ball rolling about this matter and I will go along shortly to add my name to the list at The Shop.
Sandra Nuseibeh
Kings Ash
To the Editor:
The cars are still chasing up and down Chesham Lane making it a dangerous place for children and pets, pedestrians and cyclists and a noisy place to live! So thank you every one who has signed the petition. It is going very well. So far we have received an amazing 108 signatures! We are at the moment writing a letter to the District council and the Parish council to put our case.
If you have not signed the petition and would like to do so there is still one in The Shop at the Lee. It is only going to be in there for two more weeks and that is it. So please if you have not already, do sign it now!
Ollie Napier-Munn
Swan Bottom
To the Editor:
It was most appropriate that the Chairman of The Lee Parish Council should attend the dedication of the new cemetery at Fromelles on 19th July.
However, what became immediately obvious was that while M. Huchette, the Maire of Fromelles, sported a fine silk tricolour sash across his chest, John Ford as the representative of The Lee, although immaculately turned-out, had no insignia whatsoever to mark the importance of his office. Why shouldn’t the chief official of The Lee have some smart regalia when visiting foreign parts? How about a Lee sash (green and gold?) or something to pin on the left breast (the Order of The Cock and Rabbit?) – that would go down well on the Continent.
We really must have dignitaries from The Lee presented at their best. What would readers of the Newsletter recommend?
Mike Senior
The Lee
To the Editor:
We all put out our waste for collection once a week and it’s not a pretty sight, but fortunately everything is collected up speedily and efficiently.
Most residents of The Lee then bring in their dustbins and tuck them away out of sight, but a few leave them out for all to see day after day, week after week.
It does spoil our roadsides and the village as a whole. Is it too much to ask everyone to hide their dustbins except on collection days?
Richard Hall
Swan Bottom
(You might like to know that Chiltern District Council is now offering free email or text alerts to notify any changes in the normal refuse and recycle collection services. To register simply visit www.chiltern.gov.uk/alerts and fill in your details. You can also find the schedule of local collection dates on The Lee website under 'District Council Services’. Ed.)
To the Editor:My aunts used to run the Shop alongside the Bugle, then known as Holloway Stores. The last time I visited The Lee about three years ago and saw both the shop and the Bugle closed down it made me feel very sad. I would like to know whether some-one could somehow take the Bugle over and bring it back to how it used to be.
Frank Holloway
Bideford, Devon