Why are victims of crime being penalised?
WHY is Stockport council penalising the victims of crime? I had a blue paper bin stolen and thus was a victim of crime. After making enquiries I find that I am to be forced to pay £10 for a new bin. So to add insult to injury the council is penalising a pensioner who is the victim of a crime. Over and above this, if I have a bin stolen again this council will charge me not £10 but £37 for a new bin.
As a pensioner of 71 years with a fixed income, £10 or £37 is a lot of money to pay for something which is not my fault and out of my control. After all it is the diktat of the council that we must recycle and hence are forced to have the bins that they specify.
So it seems I have a number of options open to me. I can place my paper in someone else’s bin. I can take it and put it in the litter bins of a local park. I can burn the paper instead of recycling. I can place it in the black bin for land fill, or I could go and steal someone else’s bin.
There are four things which are certain in this matter. The first is that I will not join the band of thieves and steal someone else’s bin. The second is that I will not use another persons bin for my rubbish. The third is that the recycling of paper from my residence has now ceased. Fourth and last is that I will not be paying to replace a bin that was not damaged or lost but stolen by person or persons unknown.
Through no fault of my own the council will not supply a new bin unless they take money from my pension. This being the case it is the council that is responsible for the failure of their own recycling effort. JH Moffatt, Bredbury
There are bad cyclists too...
AS both a cyclist and car driver, I read with interest the article on the police initiative to educate drivers about driving considerately when passing cyclists (‘Police target ‘close pass’ drivers,’ M.E.N., March 31).
I confess to a lack of confidence in heavy traffic that means I refrain from cycling in areas with high concentrations of traffic like the city centre and have had my own share of close calls with cars near my home.
But I do think there is a deafening silence on the behaviour of some cyclists.
Like inconsiderate car drivers, they are a distinct minority, but I do get tired of nearly being ‘run over’ on the pavement by cyclists taking short cuts to avoid red lights or even weaving through pedestrians using pelican crossings. Any car driver would be in serious trouble for such behaviour but the cyclists in question do it with impunity, and I do not accept their reply that they are avoiding bad car drivers. That’s like saying ‘we would be at risk if we rode where we should so we’ll put you at risk instead.’
Also, please use cycle lanes, they costs tax payers a lot of money and are there, not just for your safety, but to help keep the traffic flowing more smoothly, eg on Deansgate near the Mancunian Way, where there should be room for two lanes of cars but selfish behaviour by some cyclists reduces this to one.
We’ve all got to share a limited space and tolerant and considerate behaviour all round will make everyone’s day a little more pleasant. Alan Maskell, Hale Barns
Blair wants Brexit to fail
THE answer to the question ‘If Brexit is a disaster who’ll get the blame?’ (Viewpoints, March 31) depends on who exerts the most influence to make it fail.
Discredited Tony Blair and his chief propagandist Alastair Campbell are determined to treat 15m UK voters with contempt, by trying to reverse the referendum decision to justify their own policies of open-door uncontrolled immigration, uncontrolled banking and a burgeoning wealth gap that has generated such resentment; not to mention an illegal war.
Ridicule over £350m for the National Health Service ignores the £13.1bn paid to the EU in 2016 less £4.5bn returned, leaving a £8.6bn net contribution. We escaped the Euro, we don’t have the mass unemployment of southern European proportions and our banking system is more robust than European banks, such as Italy which are teetering on the brink of collapse.
We are not leaving the continent or peoples of Europe, but a bureaucratic, overbearing organisation controlled by lobbying vested interests and out of touch with serious concerns and unwilling to change.
Our departure might instigate that change for everyone’s benefit and although divorce is never pleasant, it can be mutually beneficial with the right attitude on both sides.
The likes of Blair and Campbell simply guarantee acrimony. Bill Newham
Clampdown will pay off
RE: ‘Town hall clampdown on pavement parking,’ (M.E.N., April 1)
Put one person in every area and the council will not only make their wages easily, they will make millions.
In every area you see this happening. Parents with prams and people on disability scooters not able to pass easily. Workers in latenight take-aways parking on pavements outside the shops they work in.
Bring it in as soon as possible and put more money in the council coffers which will help the cuts from the government. Non-driver, Gorton