Letters: December 22, 2016

Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters.

Missing information

SWINDON Council has sent out a questionnaire on ‘2017/18 Housing Funds’. It asks for tenants’ opinions on how to deal with a shortfall of £1.34 million next year. It lists the reasons they have less money – the loss of homes due to right to buy, the 1% rent cut imposed by central government, and the need to invest in homes.

What they conveniently neglect to mention is the loss of income as a result of the proposed transfer of garages, some shops and “amenity land” owned by the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), to the council’s General Fund. Their questionnaire is silent on the fact that these transfers will mean the HRA would lose an annual income of £1.309 million. Garage rents of £1.074 million and £235,000 income from shops/commercial premises will be handed over to the General Fund. Last year the garages made a surplus of £724,000 after costs are accounted for.

The council admits that the move “will have an impact in the short run”, yet they refuse to tell tenants how much will be lost by the HRA. They make an assertion for which they offer not one shred of evidence, that “in the longer term...we reduce long term costs on the housing account and consequently your rent.” This is simply not true.

By their own latest estimate, when the transfer of some properties from the General Fund into the HRA is taken into account, the HRA is estimated to lose £512,000 a year as a result of the transfers. Taking money out of the HRA at a time when it is losing income as a result of central government policies will make the funding crisis worse.

The only reason why this transfer is proposed is to use HRA income to bolster the council’s General Fund, which will save £500,000 as a result.

The council is desperately scrabbling around to save money because of the General Fund’s financial crisis, caused by government cuts and their six-year council tax freeze which has made the crisis worse than it would otherwise have been. The proposed transfer is nothing other than robbery of the HRA in order to fill a hole in the General Fund.

Tenants, as with an increasing number of the town’s population, are cynical about ‘consultations’ carried out by this administration.

Nevertheless we should tell them that we are opposed to these transfers, recognising that this is nothing more than a money-grab to help fill the ever greater hole in the General Fund.

MARTIN WICKS

Secretary Swindon Tenants Campaign Group

Welcombe Avenue

Park North

Swindon

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Animals are suffering

I HOPE all meat-eating Adver readers enjoy their Christmas, but please spare a thought for the hundreds of chickens, turkeys and other animals who suffer terrible cruelty to enable this.

In a Norfolk factory farm recently, chickens have really suffered.

At around 41 days the chickens are rounded up often from over-crowded sheds, crammed into crates and off to the abattoir – and to their ultimate death –amounting to approximately 20 million a year.

As they are rounded up they have broken wings and legs from rough handling. Then the chickens are forced into shackles upside down. Often missing the stunning they then have their throats cut and then are immersed in boiling water still alive.

When you enjoy your Christmas dinner just be thankful its them instead of you.

S GILES

Bodium Drive

West Swindon

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Invest in older buildings

GILL Harris put forward an excellent argument for looking after old historic buildings before creating “shiny new buildings”, “Waste not, want not”(SA, December 16).

As I read her comments it was as if someone was reading my mind and I wondered how many other Swindon residents were having similar thoughts.

Swindon’s civic leaders have persistently failed to recognise the inherent value of the town’s older buildings. Consequently, much of the interesting architectural heritage has been destroyed to satisfy the dubious pursuit of continual modernisation.

Ironically, buildings which were deemed to be modern just a generation ago are now regarded as past their sell by date and in need of replacement.

When I saw Swindon Council’s proposal for a new £22m museum and art gallery I was instantly reminded of the type of structures which can be seen at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Alton Towers.

With a few modifications and some tubular track placed on top, it could be converted into a roller coaster or the centre area could be covered over with an appropriate material to create an artificial ski slope.

As I noticed the various roof platforms, with trees growing from them, I started to consider the practicalities of this peculiar structure and its related maintenance issues.

Trees need roots for structural support and to absorb nutrients and water. In my opinion they grow best in the ground. Anyone who has ever dug up a tree will know how deep the roots grow and how far they spread.

The tree roots on this structure would have to grow in a confined space. I assume they would require underground anchors and specialist maintenance. It seems likely they would, on occasions, be subjected to a wind tunnel effect leaving them prone to being damaged and/or blown over.

It looks as if it would be a “nightmare” to keep this structure clean. How would it cope with Swindon’s ever growing traffic pollution?

I believe Ms Harris hit the nail on the head when she said, “the Mechanics has a classic beauty and grandeur that will never date. This spikey bewinged model of what our town centre deserves will go out of fashion and end up as just another monstrosity darkening our already beleaguered skyline”.

I would much prefer to see the Mechanics’ Institute renovated and used as a museum and art gallery.

The Borough of Swindon has numerous basic requirements which need to sorted out such as, social care for the vulnerable, improvements to schools, improvements to roads and transport, provision of libraries etc.

During a time of extreme austerity this proposed £22m project is an unnecessary extravagance which sends out the wrong message. It is like giving champagne to a person who is suffering from starvation.

MR K KANE

Wharf Road

Wroughton

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Folly of museum plan

DESPITE the Museums Association having stated that over 52% of museums experienced falling income in 2013/14, a state of affairs which carried over into 2015/16, and with local authority museums in particular experiencing the highest year-on-year reduction in total income, Swindon Borough Council now asks us to believe that it can confound the experts and ‘buck the trend’ by spending £5million of Swindon taxpayer money on a £22m Museum and Art Gallery.

The inescapable truth is that many museums throughout the country are either closed or in the process of closing, reducing hours of opening, introducing entry charges and increasing the use of unpaid voluntary staff. I am sure to the people of Swindon campaigning against library closures these actions will seem uncannily familiar.

Given the council’s frequent claim to be ‘broke’ and Cllr Renard’s consistent mantra of ‘we can’t continue to do the things we used to do’ it is beyond parody that while the Mechanics Institute continues to crumble and public services tumble, Cllr Garry Perkins believes the town’s salvation can be brought about by spending £22million on a flashy hi-tech Museum and Art Gallery, despite a national survey suggesting otherwise.

Sadly, we have heard it all before. Promises of a Winter Gardens, Concert Hall and a vibrant cultural quarter all intended to raise the town’s arts and culture profile. All have come to nothing.

A new Museum and Art Gallery is an interesting proposition but I think the people of Swindon could think of a better use for £22m

DES MORGAN

Caraway Drive

Swindon