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From the Editor:

FOLLOWING the announcement of the General Election and the start of campaigning, we would remind readers that they should make clear any political affiliation/membership of a political party/public office eg councillor when writing Letters to the Editor, and that letters may be edited. Thank you.

Money saving?

I WAS pleased to see Wiltshire Council Leader Phillip Whitehead say that they were phasing the implementation of the new logo to reduce costs.

Is this the same council that bought 55 brand new road gritters in one go! Were all the existing gritters broken down and beyond repair?

Surely they could have replaced them on a rolling basis say 11 a year so that none ended up over five years old. I guess that they spend most of the time parked in a depot waiting for the bad weather.

L.C. Lewis, Submitted by email

We must do more

RE the article Fewer Homeless on our Streets (Wiltshire Times 25th October), where are the team of staff connected with the Rough Sleepers Initiative, and the teams of support workers mentioned. The strategy is described as preventative, all I can say it appears to be failing.

These are people, not just statistics (apparently collected about a year ago). It seems they are generally being ignored by the authorities. Nothing, but nothing seems, for example, to be being planned this year to express the Christmas Spirit to them (eg a meal, or some social relief. An enquiry was made to Wiltshire Council at the beginning of November, but the answer by an official was that nothing was known

To me it is shameful, and very sad. Some people might postulate, it is more than that, it is wicked. It is about time things changed, and quickly, or there will be much more suffering and mortal loss.

As I am disabled, physically I can do nothing, so I have decided to try and make some people aware with this letter.

Ian Rutter, Southwick

Beating the jams

ON October 25 between 7.45am-8.25am I was walking along Frome Road into town. Not realising it was half term I could not understand why there was so little traffic.

Every day of the week at 8.30am I wait to cross the road at the Market Street crossing while traffic crawls up and down. Pedestrians could help here by observing the flow of traffic rather than stepping straight off the crossing.

The traffic problem is being caused by the school run, a 4x4 carrying one child, and drivers unaware or afraid of using two lanes between the roundabout and The Swan Hotel.

Wiltshire Council should look to do more for commuters as there is never going to be a bypass and there is little sign of a one-way system. There are several hundred houses being built on the outskirts of town on the Holt Road to add to the congestion.

Does County Hall and other large employers operate a flexi-hours system? Could not the secondary schools stagger their hours? Perhaps a subsidised round-the-houses bus service between local towns would be of benefit? There I go again, dreaming.

When a council can ask drivers to stick to 20mph between Sainsburys and the station roundabout and then invite them to increase their speed to 30mph (there are road signs) through the town centre what hope have we got.

I would also like to inform our highways dept that I am fed up with trying to keep all four drains outside Abbey Mill clear of mud during the flooding season, which is now in full swing. Pedestrians ask me ‘have you caught anything?’ while 4x4 drivers delight in giving me a good soaking.

Gareth Jones, Abbey Mill, Church Street, Bradford on Avon

Road crumbling

I HAVE written the following to Wiltshire Cllr Bridget Wayman, after receiving a reply from her last year over my concerns about the resurfacing of West Ashton Road:

At the time of the proposed works & subsequently, I drew your attention to the perceived shortcomings in the proposed roadworks.

If you have driven along West Ashton Road recently, you cannot fail to notice the considerable number of undulations and cracks appearing in the road surface just 18 months since the so-called repair works were undertaken.

What action are you taking to arrange rectification works to the failures and will this be undertaken by the original contractors at their expense and if so will you ensure that it is done properly and to proper, sustainable standard?

This is public money that was spent on a substandard job and the evidence is all too apparent.

Philip Withers, Trowbridge

Thanks to all

ON Friday, November 15, at the Wesley Road Club Trowbridge, the Bath Cancer Unit Support Group (BCUSG) of Trowbridge are holding their annual Charity Bingo evening, in aid of the cancer unit at the Bath RUH. Doors open at 7pm, with eyes down at around 8pm.

Entry is £1 and a book of ten games is also £1, with six books for £5. The bar will be open and there will be a prize raffle.

Jeff Law, BCUSG committee member