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Let’s get real here

Not long to wait now until the decision is made on the new museum lottery bid. Exciting, isn’t it?

You have the handful on one side waiting to get their hands on the dosh to build the proposed ivory tower which will “transform the town centre”, and on the other hand the realists that see a further drain on the council’s coffers (because it will be the council that has to pick up the shortfall of money required to complete the pale complexioned elephant).

I for one can’t wait to see how a few hundred people a week that could visit the new “cultural centre” will pop into the town centre and off load copious amounts of the hard earned stuff on coffee or a new charity shop outfit or some clothes from a few seasons ago at the top end outlet store nestled at the far end of The Parade.

I do sincerely hope I am proved wrong and that the town thrives, but sadly you can’t buy culture or class unless the ideas are groundbreaking and unique.

And to swap a small underused gallery in probably the nicest part of our town for a large expensive underused gallery in a not so nice part of town is not the way forward.

Kevin Edmonds, Covingham

Be very ashamed

WHO would not feel really sorry for the parents and Alfie Evans in the situation they find themselves in? How heartbreaking. The hospital staff have been dedicated to looking after Alfie for many months, so effectively, that have all done their very best.

How awful and disgusting that so many people seem to have stormed the doors of Alder Hey Hospital and abused staff when the staff have done a fantastic job of care and compassion over many months.

I wonder how any of those people who stormed the doors and who acted like animals ripping at their prey would feel if, in a couple of weeks, their children needed hospital treatment at Alder Hey. Would they be refused treatment? No, because the staff are dedicated to their cause. I would feel like saying, ‘”orry, you will have to seek treatment elsewhere”.

The people involved in the aggressive attitude etc, should be deeply ashamed.

Alder Hey must face this situation of discontinuing life support many times over a year with other parents in similar situations and the decisions taken must be devastating for all, including the staff, but do the parents act like the morons of recent events? No.

Time for those aggressors to take a really good look at themselves.

Chris Gleed, Proud Close, Purton

More signposts please

WE in Swindon are extremely lucky to have a very extensive and well connected cycle path network.

Most of the main routes can take you from one side of town to the other whilst avoiding the majority of roads.

However, whilst the paths are there, quite often the signs are non existent or very confusing. I can’t remember the amount of times I’ve tried to decipher a worn-out painted sign on the path; stickers on lamp posts that seem to contradict the other signs; painted signs that direct you down a long winding path only to plonk you right in the middle of a four-way path junction without another sign in sight. The directions just end abruptly.

There are free paper maps available and plenty of online downloadable routes but sometimes it would just be nice to follow a well signed path without having to stop every few hundred yards or less to check where you are.

Oh, and could we have a bit of tarmac on the number 45 cycle route behind Shaw Forest Park please? Parts of it are just mud and it becomes unusable during the winter months.

Roger Lack, North Swindon

Stop this expansion

Once again the Stratton residents are adamant the bridge should be open to all. I wonder if they realise the noise it will generate for the residents living near this new structure.

Merlin Way residents already have to suffer constant noise and pollution from the A419 and the rat run traffic when there are tailbacks on the A419 which is now a motorway in all but name. I believe instead of this bridge other options should be considered.

When the flyover was built near the hospital the residents of Liden in some cases were offered compensation for the noise pollution. The residents of Covingham and Stratton should get together and demand compensation for all the years of disruption, pollution and loss to the value of their homes this expansion will create.

Residents should not be fighting to move the problem to another part of Swindon. They should be putting a petition to all the residents of Swindon to get together and stop all the expansion if infrastructure is not in place.

Reading the Swindon Advertiser it looks like all of Swindon is in gridlock. Residents will have the power next week to stop all this by not going to vote for any party. Wonder what would happen if everyone withheld their votes.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

What’s going on?

I AM currently visiting my family in Swindon from America, the first time I have been back to Britain for eight years. I am absolutely appalled by the deterioration of both town and country.

Where has all the litter come from and what is being done about it? Why are the people who commit crimes stuck in cells watching TV and having it easy? By getting them to tidy the streets will give them a sense of purpose and will help with their rehabilitation whilst at the same time giving the streets a much needed clean. It is a common sight in America and it works.

What has happened to the once great NHS? I find it ridiculous that you must book weeks in advance to just to see a GP. Hospital appointments are usually months away and nurses are leaving the NHS at an alarming rate. The NHS was once the envy of the world, its rapid decline is extremely sad. It is truly heart-breaking.

Linda Jordan, Virginia, United States