Letters: April 9 2016

Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters. Please note, the Adver will not be printing letters on local political subjects until after the elections in May.

Questions over centre

HAVING read two articles on the proposed energy centre, the latest from Barrie Hudson, I wish to make the following comments.

Firstly at the provisional meeting in south Marston for which invitations were distributed the following are major concerns: the planning group from Cirencester who tell you where the rubbish is coming from are probably the instigators not wanting it in their area where it should be sited. Someone should find out under the Freedom of Information act who instigated Rolton Kilbride’s application and why it is not being trialled in Scotland or some other major town or city.

Andrew Needham, the managing director, made some disturbing comments elaborated on by other team members.

1. The building’s chimney, which will emit cancer-causing emissions and fly ash said to be at permitted levels, will, it was stated, shut down should anything go wrong. At superheated temperatures explanations are required as to whether the building could explode.

2: The impression that there would be only two or three lorries an hour is disingenuous as 150 tonnes a day equates to 35 or more trips over the village road and more congestion on the A420.

The residents of South Marston should be very concerned about the emissions with the prevailing wind from the west and downdraught from the elevated A419.

Given the topography of new development in that area who would want to buy?

Job numbers would be less than employed at present.

Also represented at the meeting were highway layouts, before planning application, suggesting collusion with Swindon Borough Council.

Finally what was astonishing was that only councillors from the other side of Swindon were interested and asked, “why Swindon out of all the other towns? Take it back to Scotland.”

PAUL HAYES

Lower Copse

Shrivenham Road, South Marston

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We need our volunteers

I READ with concern your report about Swindon’s Volunteer Centre losing funding from Swindon Borough Council (Advertiser, April 7).

And I noted that they intend to apply to Europe for funding to fill the gap.

I am delighted to hear this and wish them every success.

We need the voluntary sector and we need volunteers: They support the young, the old, the sick and the well in many different ways and we would all be much poorer without them.

I also hope this news will give pause for thought to those currently shouting loudly that we should leave the EU.

According to the EU’s own website, (http://ec.europa.eu) “during 2014-2020, the European Social Fund and European Regional Development Fund are investing €11.8bn across the UK.”

This is incredibly positive, and is a good reason for voting to remain in the UK.

Local government is really struggling under the austerity agenda and the voluntary sector, heavily dependent on grants from local government, is struggling too.

Voting for Brexit and denying charities the chance to apply for this EU funding could be the final nail in the coffin for many local and national charities.

ANNE BENNETT

Swindon

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Fearful of Trump victory

THE rise of Donald Trump in the US electoral race is deeply concerning to me.

It’s hard to imagine how dangerous a world it might become if he were president and “de facto” leader of the western world.

His supporters include a majority of the evangelical Bible belt which surprises me, as a lot of his rhetoric couldn’t be further removed from what I perceive to be the Christian message.

They say he is only saying what a lot of people are thinking.

I really hope this is not true. His plan to ban all Muslims (albeit temporarily) from entering the US can only help bring the Islamic State and other extremists more recruits.

His comments on building giant walls to stem the flow of immigrants from Central and South America has even prompted the Pope to challenge him.

Thank goodness he wasn’t in power during the “Arab Spring” and its aftermath because the added carnage would, without doubt, have been devastating.

Bush would have been bad enough so the whole world should be grateful for Obama’s restraint regarding US foreign policy.

Surely the American electorate will not be persuaded by the multi-millionaire’s powerful propaganda machine? If they are then I fear for all of us.

SM TURK

Highworth

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Brexit’s wealthy donors

BILL Williams writes a letter “odds on an EU Gamble” (Advertiser April 6) that contains no facts, he just assumes that, in his words “big money boys” out of self-interest have been “pouring cash into the remain vote.”

Unusually, I agree with him, they probably are but he gives no names or sources to back up his hypothesis.

On the other hand, here are some wealthy donors to the Brexit campaign. My source is the independent: Crispin Odey, billionaire hedge fund manager; Sir Michael Hintze, the fourth richest hedge fund manager; Paul Cruddas, John Mills and Stuart Wheeler who have donated to the Conservatives, Labour, and the UKIP in the past.

Also, let’s not forget that the billionaire proprietors of The Sun, Daily Mail and the Daily Express support Brexit through their newspapers.

Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with giving money to the out campaign or the in campaign, or supporting one or the other campaigns in ones newspapers.

But let’s not pretend that the Brexit campaign is a a peasants’ revolt of ordinary folk.

It is, after all, led by two millionaires, Johnson and Farage.

STEVE THOMPSON

Norman Road

Swindon