Your letters
To the EditorHurrah for the return of the tug of war and hurrah for the return of Beavers. I am not sure about the rook pie or for that matter jam roly poly, spotted dick, potato crisps with little blue bags of salt and the daily teaspoon of cod liver oil. Nor do we lament the passing of Rawhide, Dixon of Dock Green and Z-Cars watched on a black and white 14" KB television.
As for the health and safety brigade, please preserve us from the burghers of Scarborough in Yorkshire who have just decreed that crab apples on a quiet residential street are a ‘possible trip hazard’ and have chopped down six apple trees, much to the annoyance of local residents.
We may lament the passing of many old traditions and customs and watch boggled eyed at the intrusion of ‘Nanny State’ in our lives but I think we would miss simple courtesy, showing consideration to other people and trying to be useful in the community in however modest a way.
Gilbert Nockles
Potter Row
HS2 is not HS1To the Editor
I am sure some readers will have felt comforted by Cllr Liz Stacey’s reassuring words following her visit to HS1 in Kent. However, there are many differences in the situation, fundamental to our reactions to the proposed rail connection running through our Chilterns. The most basic is that I am not aware that HS1 goes through an AONB and that seems very important. The Chilterns AONB is one of the very few AONBs actually officially acknowledged by Government, yet there are persistent statements that Government is minded to grant this application, in direct conflict with the aims of an AONB it set up. Also, linking directly to the Continent was a vital need, connecting with existing services travelling miles across that vast terrain.
Secondly, the visual impact in this area will be considerable – it is amazing to consider seeing trains hurtling across our hillsides on viaducts, bridges where none ever existed before, on hitherto quiet country roads, or deep cuttings in otherwise productive fields. And I really did wonder about those tunnels – there have been horrendous reports of the accidents that have occurred in tunnels on HS1.
The sound impact will be considerable too. Friends in Kent liken the train sound to a race track, with barely a gap between circuits or races. Hearing one train is unlikely to give a proper feeling of the impact and whichever way the wind is blowing, many people here are likely to hear the noise where none existed before. Again, as has been said by many, this is in direct conflict with the aims and objectives of an AONB.
I did rather chuckle at Liz’s statement that trains running underground could not be heard because of the nearby motorway noise... Duh!
As for house values, it will always depend where the property is and how the market recovers in the uncertain future. It is, however, really hard on those who need to sell now or in the near future, but cannot really prove a hard-luck case for government intervention.
I suppose ‘they’ assume we will all get used to it in time – but why should we? There is no benefit to us here, for who would travel (drive) to Birmingham or London from here to get a train to London or Birmingham? And where are all these thousands of people waiting to get from one to another? Waiting on platforms now, being counted? And with IT improving video-conferencing and other new introductions likely to come, will even the business community want to get on a fast train to save a few minutes, when home/home or office/office will do as well and cheaper?
No, this is a NO-NO, a political nonsense, a dream to aspire to yet another continental culture. If we had hectares to spare, perhaps we could think about it – but we don’t. Every inch of our land is precious, and must not be mis-used.
(Mrs) Cic Upcott,
Ballinger
To the Editor
Who is responsible for defacing the Chilterns with all these “Stop HS2” signs?
Leslie Robins
Lee Common