We should be more ambitious and welcome Syrian refugees
THE issues which we have been debating on the letters page of the Stockport Express recently, such as the redevelopment of the town centre, housing in the greenbelt, new roads, membership of the European Union and migration into our borough, go to the very heart of what we want Stockport to become.
Manchester tends to set out definite targets and Stockport could have a look at whether it wants to set out a few goals of its own.
At the last census, Manchester had a population of 505,000 and its stated aim was to increase growth to 600,000, much of it planned for the city centre.
I would like to see Stockport emulate these ambitious plans. It has the geographical size, wealth and ability to do it.
For us to increase our population without bringing the roads to a grinding halt, we will need to persuade more people to leave their cars at home for some of their journeys.
The news today that carbon dioxide levels around the world are the highest for 800,000 years only reinforces the need for eventual change.
A modal shift away from all types of car will facilitate the rapid expansion of Stockport.
On a different tack, we discussed the idea of taking in thousands of refugees fleeing war zones, particularly in Syria.
I suggested 17,500, with the government paying the bill. It would have brought our population up to 300,000.
The Syrians are highly intelligent and resourceful and I think they would do for Stockport what the French Protestant refugees did for 17th century London’s revival after the devastation of plague and fire. Like them, they would be people with something to prove.
All of these things apart, do you agree with me that Stockport is demonstrating a different spirit with more ambition than was once the case, even though there is still a long way to go?
But enough of these serious musings, Debbie Harry and Blondie are coming to town and I feel like a little child that has just been let loose in a sweet shop.
Things may never be the same again. John Tyers Marple
ANY MEMORIES OF BIG STRIKE?
MANY of your readers will have read recent articles about the 50th anniversary of the Roberts Arundel strike and seen the photo of workers from the Shell Carrington plant marching in support of the strikers.
For many who were living in the town between the end of 1966 and spring 1968, this will have brought back memories. The strike made headlines again and again both in Stockport and nationally for over a year.
The dismissal of 145 workers, the demonstrations in their support, the 32-30 vote by Stockport council not to approve the chief constable’s request to ban all marches connected with the strike, the solidarity strikes in local factories, the mass pickets and the arrests on the picket line, all these were big news at the time.
Then there were many hundreds of engineers and others who paid a weekly levy to the strike fund which collected the equivalent of £1.5 million in today’s money. There were also many haulage drivers, rail and airport workers who helped with the boycott of the company’s goods.
I’m a local historian researching the strike. I’m keen to talk to anyone who has memories of the dispute. We made a good start last Thursday evening in ‘Seven Miles Out’ with memories of being on the marches and the picket line and of being a daughter or a son of a striker.
If any of your readers have memories of the strike they would like to share, or can put me in touch with someone who does, my phone number is 07972 928902 and my email address is geoff. brown@gmail.com. Geoff Brown Prestwich
MORE YEARS OF JUST TALKING?
STOCKPORT council and the Boeing 747. So what have these in common? Well really nothing.
The government has instructed all councils to come up with a cycling and walking strategy. Recently Stockport council held a meeting to discuss this and chose to link it with its Right’s of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) - they are currently consulting you on ROWIP on their website if you can find it and understand it.
They decided to link the new cycling and walking strategy to their ROWIP, which they have already been discussing for 10 years and hope to come to a conclusion within another three years.
In 1966 Boeing needed a new aircraft otherwise they could go bankrupt. The 747 was designed and built in 28 months, ready for delivery in 1969.
Many of us have flown safely, and relatively comfortably, in a 747, while Stockport council will still be talking about ROWIP for another three years and not doing anything practical, apart from introducing inconvenient and potentially dangerous cycling and walking schemes such as have been created by the A34 or on Millgate in Stockport centre.
When will Stockport council recognise the government’s desire to make walking and cycling an attractive mode of transport and take the steps to make it a reality? Roy Bradshaw Address supplied
COOPERATE OVER BREXIT
I AM sick to death of all the bickering and back biting from the opposition parties over the feast on the table of the Brexit negotiations.
The whole country voted on June 23, 2016, to leave or remain a member of the European Union. We, the country, voted to leave, so it is up to the government of the day to negotiate the best terms possible.
While the government is hacking away at miles of ‘red tape’ accumulated over 40 years, most of the opposition parties just squabble over the crumbs in this feast of potential for the future of this green and pleasant land.
The whole country, not just the government, voted in favour of leaving the EU.
I hear MPs and other political pundits saying that nothing is getting done, but do they realise that our negotiating teams usually outnumber their counterparts by two to one.
If they were given cross party cooperation things would run a lot smoother. Kenneth Gibbons Bredbury