'What is really needed is for local authorities to grow up' - Your Letters: March 17
IMPACT OF TIPS POLICY OBVIOUS
The leading article and adjoining Comment on fly-tipping read like something straight out of John Cleese's "Department of the Bleedin' Obvious". Of course the spectacular own goal of Shropshire and now Powys councils' obstacles to the free use of household waste centres can only exacerbate the problem - how could it possibly be otherwise.
On moving house recently, being a dutiful citizen I duly made 40-mile round trips to recycle redundant packing boxes and sundry detritus, despite there being two much closer recycling centres but in adjoining counties. Not everyone I am sure would have bothered. I am surprised (though perhaps I shouldn't be) that the stuffed shirt your piece quotes from the "Local Government Association" doesn't seem to join the dots to recognise that it is the very bodies he claims to speak for that are the root cause of the problems.
What is really needed is for local authorities to grow up and - instead of endlessly pontificating on the evils of fly-tipping while through their own actions encouraging it - adopting the principle of "swings and roundabouts" by opening up their tips to all. Hopes were raised when Powys Council announced a new draft five-year plan for waste and recycling, with Cabinet member Councillor Pete Roberts pushing for talks with neighbouring councils to find a sensible solution to the ludicrous anti-residents policies. Should we hold our collective breath, I wonder?
Dr Robert Hyde, Knighton
BIG CONCERNS ON RELIEF ROAD PLAN
As a Shropshire resident I am more than a little concerned about what is going on in relation to the North West Relief Road that is proposed by Shropshire Council for Shrewsbury (NWRR).
No doubt the proposed road would bring some benefits to some Shrewsbury residents – but at what cost to all of Shropshire’s residents?
It has been estimated that every Shropshire resident will end up paying £650 for about four miles of road in Shrewsbury.
