Haboakus is giving us a pig in a poke

Firstly, what is the boundary of the area that Haboakus would acquire? I have been at meetings where councillors were unsure, at meetings where council officials were unsure and at presentations where, what Haboakus have said, differs from anything the others have said.

Secondly, who would own the part of the development that Haboakus would landscape under the plan? Haboakus have told me it would be owned by a land trust, but the leader of the council, Cllr Bluh, told me that the council would retain ownership., Thirdly, who would pay for the upkeep? At a presentation Haboakus said it would be paid for by a service charge. This could be up to £100 pounds per month and I cannot see anyone willing to pay for land that belongs to the council, is not for their exclusive use and is, to all intents and purposes, public open space.

All this begs the question that once a public park has been sold for development where would it stop? The Lawns, Queens Park, Town gardens? Nowhere would be safe.

Steve Thompson Norman Road Swindon

List of failures

If he is in need of a story for the election, Mr Martin should really think about what to use.

He should tell the voters of Shaw why there are no workers to clean up the town.

This is the man who belongs to the council, who have paid a £1m for a ‘temporary’ classroom that was used by no more than 15 children and has now been taken back to Hull. This is the man who belongs to a council who paid a man who is bankrupt for advice for its staff, (don't forget the mess at STFC).

This is the man who belongs to a council, who paid a firm £400,000 to install a wi-fi system, that was eventually used by about 12 people in Highworth and nobody knows where the money went.

This is a man who belongs to a council who has now agreed to pay for the accounts of at wi-fi firm to be made up, at a cost of about £6,000. Yes, council taxpayers money.

This is a man who belongs to a council who are in the process of giving away 15 acres of land in Gorse Hill, for whatever the builders deem good, and we are now told the money they were going to pay up front to 'refurbish' the open space left, is also being lent by the council and like the wi-fi money, who will pay it back?

This is the man who belongs to the council, who have decimated the park rangers staff, so there is nobody to do the jobs that need doing.

T Reynolds Wheeler Avenue Swindon

Get rid of quango

As someone who is in the midst of challenging our local NHS PCT on a personal medical issue, I think it is high time the general public were made aware of the truth which lays behind the way funding operates in clear simple terms.

Reading your article about the cases of cerebral palsy makes it even more necessary for the poor parents who are fighting a losing battle.

The simple fact is that the last Government decided to pass the buck on NHS funding and set up an unelected body of people – a quango called NICE to do their dirty work.

Reading your article I recognise the standard phrases such as ‘clinical evidence, Individual circumstances, procedures, routinely funded, exceptional circumstances’, and get this: “an experienced mix of clinicaliant and LAY Representative decision making”.

All nonsensical words meaning precisely, “sorry but we have decided not to fund this particular treatment or medicine or whatever”.

Sorry folks but it is time this Government got rid of this quango as they said they would and take responsibility for every decision themselves. The pure and simple truth for God’s sake.

Ian Hunt Hill View Rd Swindon

Is care good?

Local Involvement Network wants your views on care in homes and care at home.

Linda Scott (Letters April 13) and Alan & Judith Workman (Letters April 10) all wrote positively about their parents’ care at a local home recently inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

That’s very good news, even if it varies a little from the CQC view.

Swindon Local Involvement Network (LINk) is here to make sure everyone’s voice is heard when improvements or changes are needed to health or care services. We regularly give publicity to reports published by the CQC about local services – good and less good – which is how the Adver heard about the care home they referred to.

People’s experiences of personal care are intensely individual, but everyone has a right to be treated with respect and dignity whether they live in a residential setting or are getting help at home.

At Swindon Local Involvement Network we want to hear from anyone with experience of care at home or care in a home. Our task is make sure that poor services are improved and good services get better.

Please get in touch with us on 01793 497777, at Wat Tyler House, Beckhampton Street SN1 2GH or via our website www.swindonlink.org Derek Benfield Chair Swindon Local Involvement Network steering group Swindon

Strange signs

I was wondering if any other readers has noticed or observed the same thing. I am a resident of Sparcells and being a dog owner regularly walk around the area. A few weeks back whilst out walking, I noticed some new and shiny signage actually laid on the footpaths pointing the way to various parts of the area with approximate distances, some more accurate than others.

Clearly there must have been some costs associated with the design, manufacture and installation of this signage which is itemised on a balance sheet somewhere in some department.

Now just a matter of weeks later they have gone.

My first reaction was that the removal was the result of vandalism since in some areas there are still remains of signs but now I am sure it is not and they have been professionally removed and this leads me to ask some obvious questions: How widespread were these signs? I know they were in Sparcells and Freshbrook, but what about other areas of the town?

Why were they laid in the first place and at what cost? Was the cost from the 2011/12 budget? Why were they removed and at what cost? Was this cost from the 2012/13 budget?

At a time when we are trying to spend wisely how can the costs of laying and removing of pavement signage be justified when we switched off street lighting to try and save some money?

Pete Wilson Buie Close Sparcells Swindon

Have a ball

I should like to invite any readers to consider the fascinating sport of croquet. We have a thriving club here in Swindon and welcome anyone interested in having a go.

Croquet can be played by anyone, young or old, and men and women compete on equal footing.

There are two main versions, Golf Croquet which can be learned in 10 minutes and is played mainly as a social game taking under an hour to complete, and Association Croquet which is much more tactical and can take a lifetime to master.

Both these games can be played in regional leagues to provide more interest for our more competitive members. The club is running a Beginners Course starting on Tuesday April 24 for six consecutive Tuesdays from 10.00am till noon.

This costs £20 which can be used as part payment if you decide to join the Club.

All equipment is provided, all you need are flat shoes.

Our lawns are in Moredon Playing Field (opposite the Manor Garden Centre). If you can't make this course contact us to arrange another time when you can try out the game.

To book a place on the course please telephone the Club Secretary, John Airey, on 01793 873026.

Arthur Ingersoll Chairman of Swindon Croquet Club

Bill a concern

When peers voted to prevent victims of industrial diseases from being subjected to the Government’s proposed restrictions of ‘no-win, no-fee’, they voted for common sense.

Many workers who are exposed to asbestos, for example, and who later develop the aggressive lung cancer mesothelioma, have only a few months left to live.

So it is vital that the legal system serves them properly and ensures they are fully compensated as quickly as possible.

This is a matter of utmost importance for your readers, as Government statistics show that Swindon has one of the highest death rates for mesothelioma in England and Wales.

MPs must now ensure these important amendments are not overturned when the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Bill returns to the House of Commons later this month.

The amendments to help industrial disease victims are among the few proposals in the Bill which aim to help genuine claimants, so it would be a huge injustice if the Government were to overturn them now.

It is still, however, bitterly disappointing that the policymakers have not given the same degree of consideration to other victims of injury, whose lives may also have been devastated through no fault of their own.

Karl Tonks Vice president Association of Personal Injury Lawyers

Feathered friends

Pity the poor pigeons, unpaid rubbish collectors of Swindon town, who scoop up abandoned food droppings, day in, day out, eyed by tongue-licking hidden cats, chased by dogs, and harassed by young children. Theirs isn’t an easy life.

Like vultures, they survey the town centre for pickings, courtesy of shop window ledges and roof tops, then cautiously encircle, shark-like, and rush in, beaks at the ready. Peck and retreat, peck and retreat.

Masters of the art, gourmands of rubbish, with one eye on the squashed droppings, the other on the infamous Swindon boot and ‘banned’ cyclists, they peck away in record time.

Unsung heroes of Cameron’s Big Society.

Some survey the scene from Brunel’s puzzled face, as each day they renew his white flowing wig.

How about a giant statue dedicated to them, bigger than Brunel’s?

It would greet the waves of visitors that ripple down the town centre each day.

Pigeons, our feathered friends, potential politicians all.

J Adams Bloomsbury Swindon

Charity at home?

I hear that our prime minister David Cameron is becoming Tony Blair Mark Two.

Tony Blair was fond of saving the world when his own country was going to hell in a handcart. Similarly, Mr Cameron extols the virtues of fighting for equal rights, female emancipation, job opportunity, ending labour exploitation and, recently in Burma, encouraging the installation of democracy.

Let’s hope that when he deigns to visit his own country, that he works hard for those same values to be implemented here.

C J Meek Cloche Way Swindon