Ortons area is not blighted

As councillors for Orton Waterville ward we were naturally concerned to read the letter printed in the PT on 30th November (‘Who cares about residents living in the Ortons?’).

As we hope residents of our ward are aware, we are devoted to keeping Orton beautiful. While we welcome all feedback, we were very surprised by the tone of this letter as we do not share the opinion that our ward is ‘blighted’. On careful reading, we realised that the areas listed are in Orton Longueville ward, which we do not represent.

However, we know that councillors there are also working hard to address problems as they arise.

It is rare that we receive complaints about graffiti from our residents as there is comparatively little graffiti here. However, where we do find graffiti, we work with residents and the owners of the property on which the graffiti appears to ensure its speedy removal where possible (please note that where it appears on private property it cannot be removed without the permission of the owner).

We appreciate that the cor

respondent’s routes through Orton seem to take him past graffiti, and urge him to contact his ward councillors (Orton Longueville) to discuss this.

We are very proud to represent Orton on the city council and thank all our residents for their part in making Orton Waterville ward a lovely place to live. We will keep our eyes open for graffiti and where we find it we will attend to it. If any residents of our ward wish to let us know about graffiti in their area we encourage them to get in touch with us.

Councillor Julie Howell and Councillor Nicola Day,

Orton Waterville ward

ed. We also need horizon la- bels, stamp collections and anything philatelic. This is a newish challenge for us as a fundraiser so please pass on our details to anyone and everyone.

Primary bone cancer can occur at any age, but affects mostly children, teenagers, young adults and the elderly. Every 10 minutes somewhere in the world someone is diagnosed with primary bone cancer. Please help us to raise awareness as well as funds just by sending in something that you would normally put into the rubbish bin.

Please contact us at anytime if you have any questions or concerns regarding the stamp appeal.

Until there’s a cure...

Terri Volunteer Stamp Appeal Coordinator, Bone Cancer Research Trust, 20 Bowers Road, Benfleet, Essex, SS7

5PZ