MEETING WAS A SHAMBLES

CHARLOTTE Green must be congratulated on her article (People ‘afraid’ to speak up for new road plan, Free Press, 14 July), being the only coherent outcome of the Bacup THI consultation meeting on July 4.

I have never previously attended a meeting so dominated by such negative, offensive, loutish and infantile behaviour.

The meeting was well advertised as strictly written questions only, in advance.

The questions were categorised into like topics and the meeting was informed that each topic would be taken in turn.

There were short presentations from the THI team and LCC Highways followed by mayhem as anybody was allowed to speak as many times as they liked on any topic, thereby defeating the purpose of the meeting.

No opportunity was given to speak in favour of the project.

The organisers were accused of wasting time by having the explanatory presentations as everybody knew what was being proposed.

They were then accused of keeping the previous consultations a secret as nobody knew what was being proposed.

A shopkeeper said the first she knew of the proposals was six weeks previously on Facebook, despite being located in the town centre, having seen the previous and current renovation work, there having been two well advertised previous consultations and a huge display board near the RSPCA building and all shops having been leafleted.

At the previous consultations the majority view had been for a scheme that gave more space to pedestrians, easier access to shops, traffic calming and safe crossings. The proposal on offer was an exact match to these requirements but, bizarrely, the vast majority of those present opposed it, indeed there was a majority that felt that there was nothing wrong with the current domination of traffic in the town centre.

Any attempts to explain that there are empty shops and low footfall because the town is so pedestrian unfriendly were met with loutish shouting.

The prospect of pavement cafés in Bacup was ridiculed because our weather would render them useless.

Tell that to the café owners in Hebden Bridge and Todmorden!

Much of the shouting was contesting the ability of trucks to negotiate the roundabouts despite the attempted assurances from Highways that they had been rigorously tested by the simulator used throughout the UK. This fact was dismissed. The scheme was designed on the basis of previously canvassed public opinion, so if you are in favour you’d better speak up.

If a project isn’t started soon the funding will be lost and the decline of Bacup will continue unabated.

If that meeting was representative of Bacup people then I’ll go south to shop instead of north. Colin Hubbard via email

BIG CHANGES SORELY NEEDED

I NO longer represent Bacup on LCC (but thanks to those who made it a close call in the recent election!) but as I attended the public meeting recently I would like to make a few comments.

I don’t feel it necessary to voice my opinion on the merits of the current proposal for the Public Realm, but I’m very concerned at the negative approach that some people have towards any changes in Bacup.

If we don’t do something dramatic to change Bacup it will become a ghost town.

When I went – with others – to sell carnival raffle tickets in the town centre on a recent Saturday, we had to search out shoppers.

There is practically no night time economy.

To state these facts is not to denigrate Bacup but to emphasise the critical situation as I see it.

After the public meeting, several people commented that they weren’t totally against the proposed scheme – with a few tweaks – but they weren’t prepared to say so in public because they would be ridiculed or trolled on Facebook. This is bullying, pure and simple.

I would ask all the people who purport to have the interests of Bacup at heart to appreciate the potential of the THI scheme, work with the council officers and put forward positive suggestions.

It will be a travesty if we lose any of the money allocated to the scheme because of delays or negative comments, or if we accept that a bit of tarmac chucked on the existing layout will make enough of a difference to transform the town centre.

It won’t – and anyone is free to disagree with me but I’m entitled to my opinion. Jackie Oakes via email

NHS DECLINE IS A WORRY

AS a nation, we have spent the past 70 decades safe in the knowledge that we have a national health service with an army of dedicated medical professionals ready to provide first class service free to all regardless of our position in society.

In 1970, as parents of a congenital heart defect baby, we were relieved and grateful to have the best possible medical care for our son as he underwent open-heart surgery on four occasions from being 11 months old to the current day. He was treated in Manchester and London by the top consultants and surgeons and their medical teams from all over the world.

Naturally, my son, and indeed the whole family, has endured many anxious and stressful times yet we have always felt assured that support would continue in times of need.

My son is now 47 years old but continues to receive treatment for his cardiac condition and for other related issues, and has done so through the cardiac team at the Manchester Heart Centre (MRI).

He has however recently had several appointments cancelled, has had regular changes of personnel and seen doctors with no past knowledge of his condition.

Consequently, we have all begun to feel added anxiety that the service is under providing.

Just how weakened the NHS has become has, this week, been brought home to us with three letters from Manchester to tell us that the MRI has lost many of its senior specialists and can no longer provide treatment for ACHD patients.

The alternatives offered are for treatment at Leeds or Newcastle.

We are aware that this kind of thing is happening across the board with the NHS underfunded and under attack on all fronts.

As a family, we are not alone in our experience here, but we are increasingly afraid that the NHS’ existence is under threat and that future provision may well depend on ability to pay.

There are many worrying issues in Britain today but I would ask your readers to please think about the NHS.

Please make sure that we do all we can to give power to a political leadership committed to funding the NHS at an appropriate level by taxing those earning over £80,000 (many of whom will rely on the NHS in the future, and many who will indeed support this policy).

Please be ready to get us ‘over the line’ at the next electoral opportunity. Heather Malley Helmshore

STROKE OF TENNIS LUCK

NOW that it is Wimbledon time again, my wife Beverley and I took ourselves off to Haslingden for our annual game of tennis.

Shortly into the first set, Mrs B went for an aggressive forehand and hit the ball (our only one) right out of the court.

I went in search, and asked a rather scruffy looking young lad if he’d seen it – but unfortunately he hadn’t.

“But you can have this one of mine for two quid” he then shouted.

Obviously delighted I paid him and was even more pleased when I saw it was exactly the same type we had been using!

What a shining example of the kindness and helpfulness of the youngsters of Rossendale. Chris P Bacon Helmshore