No sense in keeping art treasures hidden

I WAS amazed to hear there are £18.3 million art works hidden away in Coventry, can anybody tell us why?

We should be able to see these art works or if they are hidden away and money is needed, just sell off a painting to recoup some money, then Joe Public would not know.

Let us see these works of art and keep a watchful eye on what we have. We would then be alerted if one of these paintings went missing and could ask questions.

It makes a joke of being a City of Culture when a lot of our priceless culture is hidden away. We should know what artworks we have.

Her Majesty the Queen has priceless art works and when walking through her rooms at the Palace knows instantly if one of her art works goes missing and asks her aid where the art work has gone. Why can we not do the same and keep a watchful eye on what we have collected?

Some people appreciate great works of art, so why keep them hidden away? Bring them out into the light of day and let us enjoy them. We may well have contributed to their cost. Sandra Camwell Keresley

Disappointed by Labour decision

I AM gutted and wholly disappointed that Labour’s NEC have decided to ignore the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of Jew hate. This goes against the majority of the Jewish community. Why have they done this? Do they not think victims of anti-semitism deserve the same rights and respect as other victims of racism?

Rather then go with the IHRA definition the Labour Party held two-hour long debate, where its leader Mr Corbyn said he backed the decision to adopt Labour’s own anti-semitism code over the IHRA alternative.

This is a shambolic affair and once again undermines the claims of the opposition leadership that it intends to tackle the problem of anti-semitism.

Further to this I am still waiting for a reply from Coventry’s City Council’s Labour leader. I wrote to him on March 28, 2018 raising my increasing concern over the way the Labour Parliamentary leader is dealing with anti-semitism. I asked if Coventry City Council, led by himself, was in a position to ask the leader of the Labour Party to take more action against those with antisemitic views.

I feel locally we have duty, no matter what political party we belong to, ensure the pain and hurt felt by any Jewish members of our community and city are recognised and we reassure them we stand together in stamping any views of prejudice. Councillor Tim Mayer (Con) Westwood ward

Garden village plan shouldn’t happen

I BELIEVE both Warwick District Council and Coventry’s planning committees were wrong to nod through the planning application from Crest Nicholson to build a ‘garden village’ in Westwood Heath Road (Jul 16) for the following reasons:

1. The applicant has yet to show there is any need for this type of development;

2. Where are the jobs coming from to pay the mortgages on these properties? Unless these houses are for Aston Villa supporters who can’t get into Solihull;

3. If an officer suggested the development would go ahead despite the objections, they would be guilty of gross misconduct as planning committees are quasijudicial;

4. The minister can still call in this application and refer it to a public inquiry;

5. The Section 106 green travel plan is wholly inadequate for an area that only has an hourly bus service that does not serve the local railway station;

6. Coventry’s planning department was foolish to recommend that this plan should be nodded through as the garden village will almost certainly become our responsibility when the next boundary revisions are made. Chris Youett Earlsdon

Small submarine could save lives

IT IS a tragedy that people get trapped in flooded caves from time to time.

It would be ideal if a very small submarine could be used to get people to safety as an alternative rescue. Ian Harris Radford