Your Letters (From Penarth Times)

Your Letters

Race track

THE WESTRA has now become a race track for'boy racers', and it is no longer safe to walk along this country lane.

The residents of the Westra have campaigned for 11 years, asking for calming measures to be put in place, but so far nothing has happened.

It is not unusual to see people driving at 50mph up and down the Westra, but today two cars were racing down the Westra at an estimated speed of 60-70mph.

Does someone have to be killed before the council does something to stop this happening?

We have a school at the top of the Westra and another at the other end, and quite a few children walk down this lane on their way home. I hope something will be done soon before a real tragedy occurs.

Patricia Noakes,

Westra Holt,

Westra,

Dinas Powys.

Lottery

THOUGH many of your readers may be celebrating ten years of the National Lottery we, Penarth Quakers, would like to highlight a different point of view.

The National Lottery offends our belief about loving our neighbours and sharing resources. We see it as promoting the illusion that wealth is the ultimate fulfilment, and it concerns us that a goal of obtaining wealth through chance and without effort is becoming an acceptable norm for British society.

The National Lottery increases the gross inequality between the majority of people and a small number of multi-millionaires, and is a misuse of resources when many basic human needs are not being met in our society. We are disturbed, in particular, by the accelerating substitution of National Lottery funds for planned public funding of social projects.

However, many Quakers find themselves in a dilemma. Many of us are involved in charitable concerns that are largely sustained by lottery funding. We have to cope with the distress of seeking'the end' while disapproving the means.

Ann Boot,

Woodland Place,

Penarth.

Lost forever

CAN anyone remember the protuberance on the tree in Alexandra Park? It looked like the head of a bull and the park people had added a ring through the nose, and a glass.

These later disappeared, no doubt due to council officials thinking that German parachutists would recognise the town from it. Or perhaps it was vandals - we had them even then!

The plaque in the pier pavilion doorway commemorating the family of the clock donor, and the 1st Penarth (Peterstown) Scout Troop, was also lost by the council.

Brian Stephens,

By e-mail.

Appeal

AS the Christmas festivities approach, may I ask readers to consider for a moment those who may be unable to provide for themselves and their families in the way they might wish.

The Penarth Christmas Fund and Penarth Round Table again hope to provide food parcels for those in need of assistance this year, and as many of you may be aware the funds to purchase the food items are provided entirely by donations.

Last year, 108 parcels were delivered to families and pensioners in and around Penarth, and several letters were received thanking the people of Penarth for their generous contributions towards the parcels.

Residents of Penarth, local traders and organisations have given most generously in recent years, and I would like to appeal to you to consider this worthy cause again as Christmas approaches.

On Friday, November 26, the switching on of the Christmas lights will be held, culminating in the arrival of Father Christmas. A street collection will be held on this evening and many town traders have kindly agreed to keep collecting tins on their premises during the Christmas period.

It is also possible to send a donation, however small, to the honorary secretary of the fund, at West House, Stanwell Road, Penarth. Every contribution is gratefully received, and all donations are used to help residents in our town.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the Christmas'switching on' event and may I also take this opportunity to wish everyone an enjoyable festive period.

Cllr Jillian Penn,

Town mayor,

Penarth Town Council.

Wasteful

HOW irresponsible of the Vale council leader to throw 2 million of our money into the overblown tourist project (Penarth Times, November 11) that the Tourist Board and Lottery won't touch. Why not cut the project to fit the funding?

In the Barrage Act, it was to be a simple walkway/ cycleway around the base of the cliff. Then Alun Michael had a hand in the generous 7.5 million allocation for a touristic feature, without a proper cost estimate (Penarth Times, October 16).

The Vale Council would be crazy to sink 2 million into the fancy pier-like design and 80-place car park, not only because of the shortfall of 5-6 million capital cost.

The management and maintenance costs might run at 1 million per year for such a structure highly exposed to severe sea and gales. Maintenance costs will far exceed those for Penarth pier, which the Vale struggles to find.

Who can these days justify 13.5 million on such a tourist feature with zero income?

It was misconceived from the start, with a design that clashes in landscape terms and has a badly obtrusive car park - so let the council return to the real world with a straightforward walk-cycleway along the base of the cliff, as in many seaside resorts.

The council discarded the foot-of-the-cliff option with cries of hazards from the crumbling cliff face, but never carried out the recommended study on safety and stabilisation.

And they never considered the economic gain from securing some cliff-top homes whose future otherwise is tumbling into the sea.

Max Wallis,

Westbourne Road,

Penarth.