Water firms must carry the can for hosepipe bans
I’M LUCKY to live in Chorley, where we are going to have a hosepipe ban in a week. It is also the home of the chief executive of water company United Utilities.
Instead of repairing leaks, which would eat into his salary and the dividends of shareholders, he has had the audacity to ask for more water to be taken from the Lake District in Cumbria.
When a local water main burst, it took four attempts over a couple of months to fix it. you would expect something better on the chief executive’s own doorstep.
Can you name me another organisation that profits from wasting its product?
We use pipelines to transport gas from Europe and aviation fuel from the Solent to Heathrow and Bristol airports, and have a national grid for electricity and gas, but not for the life- support system that falls from the sky.
I can’t understand why all new properties, commercial and domestic, are not fitted with water harvesting systems to flush toilets and water the garden.
The North West is the wettest part of the country, which is why United Utilities got away with not tackling leaks for years — but this summer it’s been caught out.
If they think I’m going to fill my koi carp pond with a watering can, they have another think coming.
BARRY DAVIES, Chorley, Lancs. TANDRIDGE district council has announced that a new garden village of 5,000 homes is planned for South Godstone, Surrey. There will be new schools, doctors and roads, but there is no mention of a new reservoir.
Given that we are in the grip of a water shortage, surely it should be compulsory for large housing developments to include provision for extra water supplies.
Mrs A. SMITH, Croydon, Surrey.
Generation gap
IF ONLy teenagers and the elderly could have some dialogue about the stresses facing them. This is the first time in history that we’ve had the luxury of over-analysing every little thing in life and we seem to gain satisfaction from criticising each other.
Once, the generations plodded along with mutual respect. Our elders would listen politely to our gripes about how hard life was for us, before giving us a few home truths and a dose of reality.
yes, teenage years are stressful (Letters). But if today’s younger generation fall on hard times, their parents are in a position to help emotionally and financially.
CAROL HORNE, Liverpool.
Doomed to be unhappy
DENyING Mrs Tini Owens a divorce because of the obstruction of her estranged husband is cruel and unnecessary (Mail).
As a former deputy district judge, I never saw fit to refuse a divorce for unreasonable behaviour. Mrs Owens should have her freedom. The judges have got it wrong and been unfair towards this nice woman. J. TWITCHEN, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. WE NEED wide-ranging changes to the family justice system. The divorce paperwork is usually the easy bit compared with resolving arrangements for the children and separating the finances.
We have an archaic system that pits parents against each other. The couple need one professional who can triage their needs, contain their dispute and support them to resolve their issues. This would allow couples to part with decency and without a fight.
HELEN ADAM, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. WAS the judge who decided that a wretched marriage is no reason for divorce a Remainer?
JOHN EVANS, Wokingham, Berks.
Survival tips
TEMPERATURES climb, the ground becomes sun-baked, rain is but a fond memory and our dear nanny state does its best to scare the living daylights out of us.
On holiday a month ago at Lake Garda in northern Italy, it was over 30c every day.
By taking sensible precautions such as drinking water, wearing a sun hat and avoiding the midday heat, we had no problems.
There wasn’t an Italian nonna (nanny) in sight to tell us what to do. During my long RAF career, I spent a lot of time in the Far East in high temperatures. Instead of hitting the panic button, we kept hydrated, stayed as cool as possible and didn’t rush around like headless chickens.
ALAN MuDGE, King’s Lynn, Norfolk. I AM indebted to the Met Office for advising me to keep out of the sun between 11am and 3pm. It would never have occurred to me to do so.
I doubt the Desert Rats said at 11am: ‘That’s it for now, chaps. We’ll be back in a few hours.’ STEPHEN TONG, Pudsey, W. Yorks. I WAS surprised to see a council employee mowing the local roadside verges. The grass was withered to a crisp, but still the spreadsheets have to be followed.
It’s just as ridiculous as the council having a grass- cutting budget for the months when they are gritting the roads.
PHIL TROTMAN, Wick, Glos.
Size matters
I’VE been asking for years why I have to pay as much for my size 12 clothes as someone who is a size 22, so I’m glad some shops charge more for larger sizes (Mail).
As the manufacturers pointed out, larger sizes use more fabric and take longer to make. It’s not a fat tax, just a fair price. What should we call it when a size 12 has to pay the same price as a size 22 — a slim tax?
A. SINGLETON, Cleveleys, Lancs. FASHIONABLE clothes are made in large sizes nowadays, so larger people should be happy they aren’t confined to wearing tent dresses and be willing to pay for the extra fabric.
MERYL PARSONS, Ellesmere, Shropshire.
Counting on love
ACCORDING to a news report, men admit to 14 sexual partners, while women only admit to seven (Mail). In the same issue of the paper, Femail confides that men think women who have had 14 partners are promiscuous and seven is the ideal number. Do you think there is a connection?
GEORGE KELLY, Maids Moreton, Bucks. IT WAS sad to read the survey about the number of sexual partners. Like many of our contemporaries, my wife and I were virgins when we got married, so we each have had only one sexual partner.
Last year we celebrated 50 years of very happy marriage and have raised a delightful family. Where did we go wrong ?
Name and address supplied.
Shame shoplifters
THERE is a simple way to deal with shoplifters. Place a large notice in the shop window stating: ‘Dear shoplifter. If you are intending to steal from these premises, your image will be recorded by CCTV and displayed in the shop window. By stealing from us, you are consenting to this action.’