THIS weeks Redditch Standards letters.
JUST a reminder to everyone that the nesting season is now under way for our feathered friends.
Please leave them in peace and avoid disturbing their nests with hacking back trees and undergrowth.
There has recently been a bit of hacking going on in Sedgeley Close.
The end result is a little unsightly to say the least.
I hope that the hackers checked for birds first.
It may have been urgent work by the power line people as the work was done next to a substation.
Some of the residents that look out onto this area are understandably upset as what was beautiful is now a bit of an eyesore.
I was wondering if the hackers could return to smarten up their work or at least, in the future, where sites have to be made unsightly, a notice might be pinned up, preferably in advance to explain the problem which reduces the shock and upset ton those affected.
Margot Bish
THERE is an alternative if you’re fed up with the same old political parties.
I’m Juliet Brunner, Independent Candidate for Matchborough and Ipsley, standing in the Redditch Borough council local elections on May 4.
I’m urging people not to give up on local politics and to support me as an independent candidate.
I have served as Matchborough and Ipsley ward councillor for 19 years.
Are you fed up with the way things are being done in your name by parties based in London?
As an independent candidate my core belief is you can only properly serve a community if you live within it, if you have a real stake in what happens to your community. I have lived in Matchborough for 33 years and understands the issues facing residents.
I believe every person should take an active interest, or even role, in their local community and politics.
It’s so important for us all to take the time to learn about the important issues that affect us as a town, to see what decisions are being made in our name and understand fully what we can do to support or try to change those decisions if we are unhappy with them.
As an independent candidate I do not have to answer to any party whip.
If elected, there is a serious possibility that I would hold the balance of power in the council following the elections in May and I would use my influence to ensure decisions made in council benefited the residents of Matchborough and Ipsley – a prime example being the relocation of the proposed cemetery in Ipsley Meadows.
I urge all to vote on May 4 and not to forget to take your photographic identification which is now a requirement to vote.
Juliet Brunner
Candidate for Matchborough and Ipsley
YOUR article ‘Wythall man’s podcast aims to reduce stigma about stammering’ was a powerful read.
I am on an e-list of stammerers throughout the world and I sent out this article and it was very well received.
Kudos to Jon Hubbard for being such a brave activist in starting the podcast to reduce the stigma that goes along with stammering.
In our discussion of the article, the other stammerers and me could most definitely identify with the situation Mr Hubbard described about going to pick up his child at school and getting stuck on the name.
Even if a stammerer is having some fluent speech, he never knows when the instance will happen when he is abruptly left speechless and struggling for words. It can happen any time, even with stammerers who have become mostly fluent.
In terms of reducing the stigma of stammering, I recommend the website of the Stuttering Foundation – StammeringHelp.org – because they have e-books, downloadable brochures and streaming videos that touch upon the stigma. The site has free resources for stammerers of all ages.
Mary Burke
Boston, Massachusetts
USA
PERHAPS understandably, Mr Woodall attempts to score party political points in his letter.
As we all know, thirteen years ago, there was no war in Ukraine, affecting food and fuel costs and the NHS had not faced Covid 19. All governments lie to the people and are venal and self-serving.
They are, as Paine observed in the 18th century, at best, a necessary evil.
If Labour fails to understand the importance of protecting our borders, dismissing it as a “distraction”, it may yet offer the Conservatives a way to win the next General Election, especially if the government can demonstrably address the issue of people trafficking.
To simply throw open the borders is not a solution. People should not be allowed to claim refugee status when they are illegal immigrants. They arrive in the boats from France, many having got there via Italy, Spain or Germany. These are not war-torn, famine-ravaged countries run by autocratic governments. They may prefer to live here than in the EU (Brexit opponents note!) but they have found refuge before ever they cross the channel.
Though we disagree over this national issue, I wish Mr Woodall and his Labour colleagues every success in the local elections. Him in particular, as he is standing against Tom Baker-Price, who seconded the proposal to turn Ipsley meadow, a prized recreational space, into a cemetery.
K Wass
Matchborough
