Mark Hamer and your other contributors (The Gazette, November 6) are clearly
unwilling to face the reality that it was a
Conservative controlled council that allowed the Fleetwood Waste Water Treatment Plant to be built and a Conservative government that privatised our water industry.
I repeat, I certainly did contact
Government about the "stench" and was told in a letter that "ministers have no remit to become involved in this matter"
Tom MacFarlane makes the perfectly
reasonable point that Government ministers have intervened in the private banks.
Yes they have, but only because Parliament gave the Government the powers to do so in temporary legislation passed in the spring specifically to enable ministers to deal with the global financial crisis.
These emergency powers have been
consolidated in the Banking Bill currently being debated in Parliament.
Although the Department for the
Environment Food & Rural Affairs does
indeed licence United Utilities to operate as the water and sewage undertaker for the North West, the Conservative's 1989 Water Act that privatised the industry, delegates the Government's powers to the industry
regulator OFWAT.
I, like everyone else who has raised
concerns about the sewerage works in
Fleetwood, have to go through OFWAT as the regulator and the Environment Agency who give the permit for the operation of the sludge treatment area and the stack building – and that is exactly what I have been doing.
I shall closely monitor the work United Utilities undertake, but it would have been much easier to deal with the problem if our water supplies had not been privatised.
Joan Humble MP
Blackpool North & Fleetwood



Nothing done to tackle issue
I go to the monthly PACT meetings in South Shore,where the priority is Lindale Gardens and Kingsmede.
This month the majority of the people who usually attend, did not. They are sick to the back teeth of complaining to the council and
police about the anti-social and
destructive behaviour of the youths and nothing is done.
The police are only allowed to issue one £30 on the spot fine per youth, but when the police are questioned, they say no fines have been issued, what is going on?
We are even trying to set up an area the youths can call their own, and trying to arrange meetings with the council. They agree but still do nothing.
PC Grundy has fought for a long time to help the youths of Lindale and Kingsmede, but that has also fallen on deaf ears.
I am so worried the area is going to spiral out of control and we need help. For anyone interested the next PACT meeting is on Tuesday
December 2 at 6pm.
Name and address supplied



Justify licence fee
The TV licence fee, we are told, makes the BBC
independent and insulates it from market forces so that its programmes need not play to the gallery.
If this is so, why then is it that the BBC executives think they need to hire at enormous expense such 'erudite'
presenters as Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand?
Could anyone honestly say that their programmes make high quality, intelligent
entertainment that might
appeal to the less intellectually challenged listeners and viewers?
Many licence payers hold the firm opinion that such programmes are little better that rubbish.If they are right, then the licence fees are being misspent, and this form of raising finances for the BBC ought to be discontinued and the BBC pay for itself
N G Charnley
Chesterfield Road
Blackpool


Be careful taking jobs
I AM writing this so other
people will not make the same mistake and end up injured.
I was asked if I would help a man move some filing cabinets up some stairs, not knowing they were still full.
With me having the bulk of weight, I injured my back and have since had an operation.
The man who arranged the
removal was not insured so I could not get any compensation for my injuries.
So think twice if you are asked to do a favour for somebody
as there might be unexpected and costly repercussions for yourself.
Raymond Gregg
Clifton Crescent
Blackpool


Help is at hand in credit crunch
I am thrilled to hear the Bank of England has cut interest rates by 1.5 per cent and pleased that
Gordon Brown has urged
mortgage lenders to immediately pass on the rate cut to borrowers – trimming their variable rates.
I hope this move will
contribute towards steadying our turbulent economy for
people who are really feeling the impact of falling house prices and rising fuel and food costs.
However, I know there will still be vulnerable people in the
region who have found themselves with debts that are out of control and in some extreme cases facing home repossession. Other people are not claiming the benefits or tax credits that could make all the difference to their monthly income.
We can help. At the Legal
Services Commission we want everyone to have fair access to justice, so we run Community Legal Advice, a free, impartial and confidential advice service paid for by legal aid.
People on a low income or benefits can call our helpline on 0845 345 4345 or log on to www.comm
unitylegaladvice.org.uk for
independent advice on a range of legal problems.
I would urge anyone facing legal problems as a result of the current economic crisis to get in touch with us and see how we can help.
Peter Nelson
Regional Director of the Legal Services Commission in the North
Where has money gone?
What has happened to all the money the banks have lost?
It can't have just disappeared.
Ronald Nutter
Cranbrook Avenue, Bispham