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Pubs are in peril

With the Government putting 3.4% tax on a pint of beer the price will go up, that’s a guarantee that will happen next Tuesday. Then what will happen is in a fortnight’s time our own local brewery will put another 2% on everything across the bar? That’s beer, spirits and wine so the average Joe/Joan in the street will be double whammied and guess what will be blamed - it’s the cost of brewing, it’s the government’s fault.

There are hundreds of drinking establishments closing down yearly. Some of our local pubs are empty during the week and guess who gets it in the neck for falling profits not going into the brewery coffers. The people trying to run them, these same people are working 15/16 hour days, the people delivering the ale out in all weathers to make sure when people do go out for a pint or two, have a pint to drin,k but not the people making these price rises.

When will you people who decide to hammer your customers wake up and smell the roses and realise you are pricing yourself out of the game? It’s all grab by the government, grab by the brewery and then when all the pubs have shut down you will again blame each other.

What’s going to happen is average Joe/Joan will be spending their hard earned coin on a four pack or a nice bottle of wine from the supermarket and after a hard day’s graft or at the weekend will be staying at home because our salaries will only stretch so far on a treat. But with the price on a pint growing every six months it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to say hang on, this is not good business sense.

If pubs are shutting at a rate of one in 10 a year it will come to the stage where we have no pubs, so in turn no need for a brewery.

John L Crook, Haydon Wick, Swindon

Don’t spoil this gem

How surprised I was to read in your recent Swindon Advertiser that the council are looking into the possibility of building homes at Lakeside at the lawns in Swindon.

I find it so sad to build homes on such a lovely part of Swindon as the lawns. I lived in that lovely area for some ten years and walked my labrador regularly over that lovely stretch on green and pleasant land. Surely in this day and age a brownfield site would accommodate such a proposal as this.

The Lawns is a real gem part of Swindon and often when I walked that area you felt you were in the countryside. I would see on many occasions people enjoying the lakes and lovely walks around the lawn

I do hope this is a false proposal as I feel this could open the floodgates to further building in this area.

I feel the Goddard family who owned this part of Swindon would be shell-shocked at reading such news.

Clive Alexander, Aldbourne

Idiotic opinion

Re ‘A Backward Step’ (Adver Roger Lack. 18/10/18). I was about to draw swords over Roger Lack’s recent droppings regarding his views on socialism.

According to Mr Lack: ‘some idiots still believe socialism works.’ Then I recalled one of his letters asking: where did Noah put the two whales on the Ark?

Idiots indeed Mr Lack.

Jeff Adams, Bloomsbury, Swindon