Status of councils has changed for the worse

Regrettably, despite all your clarity of the candidates and the issues, only around two in six of registered electors bothered to vote.

In general elections this figure is much higher, around five out of six. One has to ask the question; why doesn’t the other half vote in such contests?

I am sure many people have different opinions but a prevailing view is that local councils don’t really matter as they don’t impact upon people’s daily lives.

How wrong can they be? Looking back at the activities originated by local authorities reveals a great involvement and impact on many of the daily lives of ordinary people.

There was a time when each local authority generated its own electricity, some owning gas works too.

Local authorities proudly owned bus undertakings as well as educational facilities, as well as disposing of our rubbish. Realising the scale of the problems, many authorities banded together to provide water treatment plants and sewage disposal systems. I feel that readers could add many more examples.

There was a time when the concept of public service was seen as virtuous and a good strong council was seen with pride by the population. Alas, times have changed.

Bob Pixton Sedgebrook Swindon

Lack of respect

WHEN is this country going to have any sort of respect for its elderly people and pensioners? We have had the tax in the budget announced by the chancellor referred to in the most derogatory terms in the media, as the ‘granny tax’.

It would appear that many of the current generation of 40 and under has very little respect and possibly assume they will remain as a ‘Peter Pan’ and never reach their latter years.

They will all too soon, and then I am certain they will wish to be treated with respect and dignity as befits any human being.

Although I suppose this attitude is not really surprising when we have advertisements such as the one by a loan company that frequently appears on some of the ITV channels, entitled ‘Wonga.com’.

This characterises three elderly people known as Betty, Joyce and Earl in puppet form, including voice-overs which I perceive as extremely demeaning and degrading, whilst doing little to foster any sort of respect for elderly people and at the same time possibly sending the wrong message to the younger generation.

I am amazed that this advertisement has been permitted by the Advertising Standards Council, and I cringe when I see it and feel very sad for what it appears this country has now become.

We hear reports in the media almost on a daily basis of shocking and appalling treatment in some of the elderly care homes up and down the country.

I am sure that some of this is directly due to the atmosphere that has been created in turn by them, in having at the same time a derogatory lack of respect.

I have raised my objections about the ‘Wonga’ advertisement to the Advertising Council in no uncertain terms, and I would urge others that also share my distaste and disgust to do the same.

G A Woodward Nelson Street, Swindon

Voice of Buses

Please try to separate jokiness (however weak) from the issue (SA letters, 5 May).

How can Shirley Ludford be responsible for being too loud? Obviously, it’s the volume which needs adjusting on several buses. If there has been a misunderstanding, I hope we can all show forgiveness and move on.

Of course, Shirley is an excellent multi-talented woman with a perfect voice for radio.

She is also a strong woman who can speak for herself and who needs no defenders. It is splendid that we have a female Voice of the Buses.

I would nominate Shirley on this basis alone for a Pride of Swindon award, but is she allowed two awards, having already achieved this accolade in 2010?

Given the breadth of her work, I believe she merits further recognition of her achievements.

May I finally seize this opportunity to reiterate my praise of both of our bus companies?

Stagecoach and Thamesdown do their utmost to provide us with good service in difficult times.

Maybe this extra publicity will ultimately lead to an even better service for all users, irrespective of their varied important daily needs.

Ms A Reeve Okus Road, Swindon

What we want

Interesting to read our glorious leader, Rod Bluh, blaming the poor results by the Tories on boundary changes last week.

Let’s first examine the facts. The council website says you got 11.9 per cent of the available vote last week, or put another way, 88.1 per cent of the voters did not vote for you.

Therefore you most definitely do not have a mandate from this electorate. Why did you do so badly? I think people do not believe your claims on redevelopment because we can’t see any.

We do not want any more wi-fi fiascos, and the shenanigans around the Croft School and Pickards Small Field will not go away.

Can I suggest that rather than standing up and making a virtue out of adopting a position of defending the indefensible, as you did at the Moose Hall hustings, you actually engage properly with the electorate?

This means on occasion you will have to change what you want and do what we want.

Your first test is the planning application over Wilmers Coal Yard. We hope that what we were promised is actually delivered.

Guy Green Old Town, Swindon

One-party state

SO THE local election results and the French election result have told the right wing governments around Europe that people have had enough of these awful austerity policies that have wreaked havoc to millions of ordinary people’s lives.

These results were not unexpected but were still very welcome.

And at the same time, these election results have finally told those governments who brought austerity to Europe that enough is enough.

Not for a long time though, I’m afraid, will we end up like France and have a Socialist government, despite what the Labour leader Ed Milliband said after the local elections, that he and the Labour Party are connected to the people.

I don’t think so Mr Milliband. You and others in your party still support austerity measures.

Maybe they are not as severe as the Government cuts but they would still have the same devastating effects on people all the same.

As far as I am concerned, Britain has become a one-party state and unless Ed Milliband turns to more left wing policies, I for one will be voting Green at the next General Election, whenever that may be.

Mark Webb Old Town, Swindon

Wood pigeons safe

Thank you for printing my letter of May 4.

Could I please be permitted to point out some faults in Swindon Council’s actions against us?

I was sent a letter regarding my feeding wild birds as asked by the Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds.

The birds that I feed are not the ones the council complained about, they are feral birds.

I have letters from two, four and ten years ago saying the council were going to get rid of them. Well, there’s still plenty about.

I feed wood pigeons and they don’t carry disease. They are an export crop. It was a saying some years back: export or die.

A Thipthorpe Queens Drive, Swindon