THIS weeks letters to the editor.
YOUR contributor Ros Pottinger (March 17) makes a valid point regarding the ex-Debenhams premises – it prompts me to ask the question as to what extent Redditch Borough Council can demonstrate its exercise of ‘due diligence’ in considering the take-over of the ex-Debenhams site for relocation of the library?
One can envisage the scenario whereby, we have the library on the ground floor, Job Centre on first floor (plus internet hub) and perhaps even re-open a coffee shop by the entrance.
As well as overhauling/relocating market facilities, we need to get people back into using the library and re-purposing of the ex-Debenhams premises would seem to be an option worth considering.
Peter Thomas
Beoley
I WAS discussing alternative uses for the Town Hall that would either save the council money or actually bring in an income, as opposed to the rent free library which will cost us Redditch people in maintenance.
Someone challenged me on the cost of using the first floor for small apartments – low rent and low energy costs to help people get out of debt and back on their feet but either save the council paying B&B costs or actually bring in a rent.
To my surprise, I found the cost came to less than the equivalent rate per square metre of the town hall revamp.
I have now checked my figures six times.
The Town Hall measures a maximum of 11,000 square metres (it’s a fiddly shape and may be only 9200 square metres) Mr Dormer insists that the £5.2million is nothing to do with the library relocation.
I hummed and hahed about whether to therefore deduct the 750sq metres that I calculated the new library to take up or the 2,400sq metres (being 11 metres bigger than the old library that Mr Dormer says the new library is).
As the whole ground floor comes to 2,900sq metres and the mayor and her husband insist the library is all one floor, I thought I’d better deduct, to be fair, only 750sq metres (this is actually three floors on the plans showing the library in the Town Hall).
So, working on 10,250sq metres, I divided £5,200,000 by 10,250 and found the council is spending over £500 per square metre on the revamp.
Given that carpets can be bought and laid for £20 per square metre and walls painted for less than £12-per-metre of length.
Even allowing for some windows (£300 each plus fitting) to be replaced and perhaps some rewiring and new lights and toilets (£3,000 per floor), I cannot get anywhere near £500 per square metre.
This is supposed to be the party of low taxes.
Something seems to have gone drastically wrong with their ethos.
One would have thought the NHS (another loss of rent as it is a public body financed by us taxpayers) would be paying for their own specialist equipment and dividing walls, and the council’s existing open plan layouts would need little alteration for their own use, so where is all that money going?
Margot Bish,
Abbeydale.
FOR more than a decade, Dogs Trust has been campaigning to end the cruel puppy smuggling trade to protect countless dogs from the horrific mistreatment of being illegally transported into the UK.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill is essential to tackling puppy smuggling, and future legislation under it would close legal loopholes that allow unscrupulous traders to import puppies, pregnant dogs, and dogs with mutilations like cropped ears.
However, despite pledging to tackle puppy smuggling, the Government is dragging its heels and has not progressed this crucial legislation since November 2021.
I am incredibly disappointed that the Government continues to side-line these critical improvements to dog welfare which could help to stop the needless suffering of animals.
We are calling for the bill to return to Parliament as a matter of urgency.
This is a view shared by the 40,000 plus people around the UK who have supported Dogs Trust’s campaign and emailed the Prime Minister to ask him to progress the Kept Animals Bill.
I recently chaired a parliamentary roundtable on the issue of puppy smuggling.
We were joined by 17 organisations who are on the frontline of the problem, including major transport carriers, Trading Standards, and veterinary professionals as well as Members of Parliament.
We all have a shared goal – to tackle the abhorrent illegal trade and do all we can to bring this bill back to Parliament.
The meeting allowed us to discuss how we can work together to tackle the cruel trade, and it was encouraging to see that other organisations are also committed to this crucial cause.
While I am pleased that we have such a weight of backing on this issue, it’s frustrating that the Government will not recognise the urgent need to progress the Kept Animals Bill.
Dogs Trust remains committed to working with other organisations and will continue to rally the public for support until the Government makes good on its election promise to crack down on the illegal smuggling of dogs and puppies.
We will not give up.
To show your support for our campaign, visit: action.dogstrust.org.uk/page/120892/action/1
Owen Sharp,
CEO, Dogs Trust
