Fast-track charge is admission of failure
RE. ‘Pay up to bypass long queues at the airport’ (M.E.N. May 17) which stated ‘there have been complaints about long waits at passport control.’
What’s new? I have had letters printed for up to 20 years, complaining about the appalling service at Manchester Airport.
This is my first letter in two years because I gave up campaigning.
However, I had to come out of retirement to respond to this article!
The new ‘benefit, that the airport is introducing is so that passengers can pay extra to get through passport control quicker. Isn’t that thoughtful of them?
Forgive my cynicism but are they really proposing to charge people extra for the service that the public have already paid for?
The interim managing director Colette Roche is promoting this new service as though she is doing the public a favour.
The sheer audacity and arrogance and pontification of her remarks are completely baffling and beggar belief.
Surely, this is a total admission of their failure to run the airport efficiently.
They will be charging us to go to the toilets next – whoops, I shouldn’t have mentioned that. M Ratcliffe, Worsley
Charge for cars at park
AS the letter from Salford resident Phil Meakin demonstrates (M.E.N.
Viewpoints, May 13), Heaton Park is much loved, not just by those who live in the local area, but also by people from across Greater Manchester and beyond.
With this in mind, it’s very important that parking arrangements at the park are managed properly, for the benefit of local residents.
After consulting with local people, we are planning to introduce pay and display parking for visitors who wish to take their car into Heaton Park. This will come into effect later in the year.
As with any other pay and display parking scheme, tariffs will vary depending on how long the motorist stays at the park.
Charges will be kept to a minimum and will be used to improve facilities and services at Heaton Park – as has always been the case.
For visitors like Phil who are travelling from further afield, driving is not the only way to reach Heaton Park, as it is well served by both Metrolink and bus services.
It is also important to reiterate that the change has not yet taken effect and will not do so until later this year. We will keep park users informed ahead of the introduction of the new system. Coun Luthfur Rahman, executive member for culture and leisure, Manchester City Council
Spirit moves Whit walkers
SINCE 1801 the Whit walk has continued hail, rain or shine.
That same spirit is to be seen on Monday, May 29, when the members of The Church of the Ascension, Salford, take to the streets despite the fact that their church building has been razed to the ground by a suspected arson attack.
It is an attitude which for which we all can cheer and applaud – and I hope that as many of your readers will come out and do that.
The walk will start from Manchester Cathedral at 10am for a service in Albert Square at 10.45am led from the steps of the Town Hall.
The main route between the cathedral and Albert Square is along Deansgate and Peter Street. We will be joined by the newly elected Lord Mayor of Manchester, Coun Eddie Newman, and the ceremonial Mayor of Salford, Coun Peter Connor.
In a time of political uncertainty and new beginnings, prayers are offered for our cities of Salford and Manchester and the conurbation of Greater Manchester.
The Whit walk is not only a church event but also very much a celebration of the communities which the churches represent.
The Sunday after our Whit walk is the Christian feast of Pentecost, which celebrates the outpouring of God’s spirit on his people.
That spirit we celebrate in our communities in such places as The Ascension, Lower Broughton, and beyond.
Share in our celebration! The Rev Canon Roy Chow, organising secretary
Real cause of malnutrition
IT is utter rubbish to blame ‘meat beer and gravy’ for a surge in Victorian diseases (M.E.N. May 17).
Malnutrition is caused by deprivation, zero-hours contracts, rising prices and stagnating wages, evictions caused by welfare cuts, rising rents and shortage of affordable housing, filthy living conditions caused by bad landlords who evict with a section 21 notice if tenants complain about disrepair, and finally by Victorian conditions caused by a rampant and out-ofcontrol capitalism.
I wish these so-called experts would stop telling us what to eat, what not to eat, what to drink and what not to drink.
Everything is bad for you in excess and (almost) everything is good for you in moderation. No wonder people are confused, and depressed from depriving themselves.
If you live an extremely ‘healthy life’ you may gain a couple of extra years, so the state can take your savings to pay for your care. Alan Entwistle, Levenshulme