‘Dormer needs to look at Tory failures’
I READ with interest your lead story entitled ‘Former leader of Redditch council slams government decision to withdraw £5m culture funding’.
Coun Dormer is quoted in the article as saying ‘councillors locally haven’t kicked up enough of a fuss’.
It appears to me the former leader has a very short memory when it comes to bidding for Government funding.
During his tenure as leader of the last Conservative council, his authority failed to secure £9.6million from a £25million bid from the Towns Fund, was twice refused up to £25million of ‘Future High Streets Funding’ and further failed to secure £20million of ‘Levelling-Up 2’ funds as a contribution to the upgrade of Winyates and Matchborough Centres.
All in all, that’s a £54.6million loss of funding for the benefit of Redditch residents.
I also find it concerning that, as a member of Worcestershire County Council along with other Redditch Conservative councillors Clayton, Marshall, Monk and Warhurst, he has overseen and voted for a £33.4million deficit budget for which the Labour Government has had to intervene to provide exceptional financial support to stave off the threat of a Section 114 (bankrupty) notice.
This would have resulted in Government commissioners taking over the county council and the resulting service cuts that other such interventions have witnessed.
As the saying goes, people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Phil Berry,
Batchley
‘Working together is key to cleaner town’
I WOULD like to thank the officers at Redditch Borough Council for meeting with me this week to discuss the road sweeping concerns I raised in your letters page.
I greatly appreciate their time and effort in noting down the areas where issues have been reported and their commitment to sending out crews to address them.
It is important to recognise the dedication and hard work of council staff, who operate within the constraints set by political leadership.
While they do their best with the resources available, it is ultimately the political decision-makers who determine the town’s priorities and elected councillors to raise concerns in their ward.
I look forward to sharing before and after photos in the near future to highlight the improvements being made.
In the meantime, I encourage residents to continue reporting areas in need of attention so we can work together towards a cleaner and more welcoming Redditch.
Coun Emma Marshall
‘NHS staff deserve a huge thank you’
IT IS really good news to see an extra two million NHS appointments were delivered during the new Government’s first five months and were met seven months earlier than pledged.
This included appointments for chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endoscopy and diagnostic tests, which were possible in part because of staff working extra weekend and evening shifts, ending the doctors strikes and the Govenment putting £1.8billion of funding into elective appointments
It’s only the beginning, but this is such a promising improvement from the previous Government where we only ever saw the numbers of people waiting, going up.
Well done all the NHS staff that are working so hard for us all and keep up the good work. Thank you.
Andrea Berry,
Redditch Resident
‘Concerns over future of Coughton Court’
YOUR recent report indicates the National Trust (NT) is planning to hand back control of Coughton Court to the Throckmorton family.
There has been no communication with NT members about this, nor is there anything on the NT Coughton Court website – there is a cursory statement on the Throckmorton family website.
My wife and I have been members of the Trust for over 40 years and I was a volunteer room guide at Coughton Court, for 10 years from 2006, when the trust took over the management of the property from Mrs McLaren-Throckmorton.
We are very concerned about this decision, especially the reported change that: ‘visitors will still be able to visit although it will no longer be part of the member offer from the trust’.
If true, this will be an utter betrayal of trust members and all those who have contributed financially towards improvements to the property over the last 20 years.
It appears that ownership of the property will remain with the trust, along with responsibility for its care and maintenance.
Accordingly, I have written to the Director General of the National Trust, Hilary McGrady, asking:
* How will that responsibility be funded?
* What will become of the revenue generated from admission charges, shop sales, catering? Will it all accrue to the family or will it be remitted to or shared with the trust?
I know this property originally came into the ownership of the trust in 1947, when James Lees Milne came to an arrangement with the Throckmorton family.
I have also asked for clarification about the terms of that arrangement, which appear to be the basis on which all subsequent negotiations with the family have been conducted.
Comments on social media suggest many people locally will not be willing to pay to visit Coughton Court from next year and some are considering cancelling their NT membership.
Let’s hope that the powers that be come up with some answers, or even revisit this ill-considered plan.
Philip Roberts
Birchfield Road,
Redditch
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EDITORS COMMENT
THE NEW rail watchdog which is being launched by the Government – like many train services – is long overdue.
If the UK is going to get anywhere near its net zero targets and maximise its environmentally friendly potential, public transport needs to be more reliable and good value for money for passengers.
The fares being charged on many peak time routes do not make ditching the car worthwhile.
You only have to look at London to see that when rail is reliable and reasonably priced people will flock to use it.
