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Work well done

I was extremely critical of the drainage gang when they were supposed to be working up Warminster Road - my criticism was about the lack of time they were working and the endless tea-breaks, talk-breaks, finishing early (they were supposed to work 8am-8pm - they were always gone by 6pm at the latest). Putting it bluntly the whole gang had a couldn`t care less attitude and were laughing at the amount of traffic chaos they were causing. I contacted Ringway about the problems and received no response.

We have now had the resurfacing work being done and the change in the work ethic is completely different. They are doing Warminster Road as I write this (where I live) and apart from a lunch break, the gang work hard to get the job completed and they are extremely polite if you talk to them. They always have a guy by the barriers to help drivers who need directions - though there are plenty of signs.

The traffic problems that have occurred were down to drivers ignoring the signs and thinking they knew best. I have been in regular contact with Diane Ware from the council and she has been very helpful and answered any query. If this work was being done by Ringway, we`d still be waiting for them to stop talking about it and to start.

I am the first to criticise when it is needed, but I am also willing to praise when it is due.

Rachel Stroud, Warminster Road, Westbury

Help for families

ON World Mental Health Day, it is important to recognise that up to 1 in 5 mums and 1 in 10 dads will experience mental health problems during the perinatal period. Mental health difficulties during this time can have a significant impact on day-to-day life, making it difficult for mums and dads to bond with their baby, potentially affecting the child’s overall development.

That is why this World Mental Health Day, the NSPCC is Fighting for a Fair Start for all families.

In England, all families are entitled to five home visits from qualified health professionals before and after the birth, to ensure both mum and baby are happy and healthy. These health visitors are uniquely well-placed to recognise signs and symptoms of mental health difficulties in both parents. Even though England already lags behind Wales and Scotland in how many visits parents should receive, the decline in staff numbers and rising family caseloads means local services are struggling, and too many families are not receiving the support they need.

While Government is currently consulting on a new public health strategy and has committed to updating the Healthy Child Programme, families across the country need to see a bold vision for improvement, with the investment in recruitment and training needed to deliver it.

This needs to come soon, without it too many families will continue to struggle to access consistent, face-to-face support at the most crucial time of their lives.

Sharon Copsey, NSPCC’s Regional Head of Service in the South West of England

New vote is vital

REGULARLY at our Devizes for EU street stalls, we hear people keen to leave the EU say things like “we voted so get over it”, “out means out”, “you don’t respect democracy”, “the EU is undemocratic” and, worse, “the EU is a takeover by Germans”, “they’re a bunch of Nazis”, and so on. Whichever side you’re on, please hear me out.

The trouble has been that, by the time we had the referendum three years ago, we had had decades of half-truths and downright lies which could not be countered in the space of a few months.

In fact it has taken us three years to wake up to the numerous advantages that we’re enjoying by being members of the EU club: access to jobs, travel, study, and research across Europe; the ability to settle down with those we love and make a home anywhere in Europe; an expectation of decent standards of food safety, animal welfare, and wildlife conservation; an opportunity to trade freely without reams of paperwork, international driving licences, tariffs and a single market of 400 million; to work together to stop climate change and tackle pollution.

You may well ask why has this EU member country, the UK, not trumpeted these achievements? My hunch is that successive governments have claimed them as their own at election time and not acknowledged that these benefits came directly from our membership of the EU - an EU that the UK has shaped to its full advantage.

So, my plea to those who say “we’ve voted” is to ask you to recognise that at least half the population is profoundly worried about the future of their livelihoods and the well-being of their families.

By triggering Article 50, Parliament respected the vote in 2016. Now the government realises that removing ourselves from a 42-year-old relationship is much more complicated than it expected.

That’s why we need another vote: to decide whether we actually want to leave or not and, if we do, on what terms.

Whatever we disagree on, surely we can all agree on one thing: it is never undemocratic to vote.

Kate Freeman, Devizes for EU

Thanks shoppers

THANK you to all the people who have kindly donated their time and expertise over the past six weeks at the ‘zero’ pop-up shop in Emery Gate. Visitors to the shop have welcomed the opportunity to talk with like-minded people from environmental organisations including Zero Chippenham and Refashion My Town, and to gain new insights and skills in sustainable living.

Many thanks, too, to the pop-up shop’s sponsors: Chippenham Borough Lands Charity, Chippenham BID and Emery Gate

Sue Cassell, Founder, MAD about Waste