Dear Editor, Thank you for leading the debate on the key issue of rail capacity in Birmingham.
I have read your reports, articles, and comment and letters columns over the past few weeks with interest and, I have to say, a sense of deepening pessimism.
Your latest correspondent, Alan Bevan, of Railfuture, in putting the case for retaining the land for a Grand Central Station, says that the “advocates of a revamped New Street ‘Gateway’ station have clearly lost track of the strategic need of the city for an expanded central station ...”
It’s worse than that.
I think the City’s current political leadership has never had a strategic understanding of what needs to be done about rail capacity.
Now that they grudgingly concede that there is or perhaps could be an issue, they seem to be grabbing at anything they can hang on to.
There will be chord lines at Bordesley if required, Midland Metro Line One can be con-verted to heavy rail (oh, really?), and - hey presto! - a high speed line from London will slot in nicely at Moor Street in twelve years’ time (!), and we can all live happily ever after.
None of this, of course, is certain to happen, and it’s a mystery to me how this cocktail of hastily-marshalled ideas might fit into the grand plan, if indeed a plan of any kind exists.
It’s not as if your columns haven’t been full of warnings and concerns about Gateway and Grand Central for quite a long time.
For example, on 15.02.07, I made the following plea in your letters column: “Coun Whitby, this isn’t about showing us you can get a result - any result, a quick result - it’s about getting the right result: could not you and your partners at least review and keep open all options before rejecting one scheme and committing to another?”
It appears he is still working on his reply.
And where is our strategic CENTRO/WMPTA in all of this? I read in your columns that Mr. Inskip finds Gateway is ‘absolutely’ the right thing to do, and that he would also like the Bordesley chords built.
I may have missed this, but I have not seen a statement by any senior elected member of the PTA, so I assume that their top official speaks also on their behalf.
Sad to say, I think the region now faces the dire long-term consequences of a dramatic failure of political leadership in matters of transport strategy and infrastructure, because it’s not just ‘Gateway’, it’s about lacking progress across the board: about not winning funding for transport infrastructure; not increasing rail capacity; not progressing Midland Metro; and not preventing the imminent loss of the strategic Walsall - Stafford and Walsall - Wolverhampton rail links.
Are we well-served?
Richard Worrall,
Winn House,
Walsall.
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Bedser barking up the wrong tree over ‘nasty’ Tory party
Dear Editor, Steve Bedser is barking up the wrong tree when he poses the question as to whether the Conservatives are still the “Nasty Party”? (Post Letters: Aug. 11)
In May, Mr. Bedser was one of the final two Labour Northfield councillors to lose their seats - ensuring that the Northfield constituency continued its progress under excellent Conservative representation.
Since the demise of MG Rover, Mr Bedser has seen Labour rejected by the people of south Birmingham. A party discarded by an electorate disgusted by the cynical behaviour of Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, disappointed by the non-fulfillment of a promise of an enquiry into the closure, and appalled by the Labour Party’s disinterest in the local community. By contrast, they appreciated the work done by Birmingham City Council in devising a strategy for Longbridge’s rebirth.
Given this background, it is not surprising that the recently published letters from Councillor Tim Huxtable and regular post correspondent Paul Burke reflected an annoyance with Mr. Richard Burden’s version of events - ones that just don’t ring true.
Coun Mike Whitby picked up the pieces after Labour’s interest in Longbridge waned after the 2005 election. His efforts, and those of the city council’s officers, in building a partnership with Nanjing Automotive, developers, and neighbouring councils, are indeed worthy of praise. This spiteful portrayal of Coun Whitby has as an egotistical megalomaniac simply does not reflect reality.
The comments of Mr. Bedser and Richard Burden in criticising Mike Whitby are merely designed to delay the inevitable. Namely, the Northfield electorate returning a Conservative MP at the next General Election.
In his early days as Leader of the Council, Coun Whitby’s detractors often (unfairly ) criticised his leadership. Yet as has now clearly been shown by the external bouquets bestowed upon the city council, under his stewardship Birmingham has gone from strength to strength.
Instead of playing petty politics, Mr. Bedser and Mr. Burden should be equally as magnanimous towards what Mike Whitby has achieved.
Derek Johnson,
Tanfield Road,
Birmingham.
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The planet’s largest massacre of land mammals
Dear Editor, I am writing to ask readers not to fall for the nonsense that eating kangaroo meat will help end global warming.
Whilst it is true that they produce fewer greenhouse gasses than cattle, their population in Australia is in crisis and an increase in the market in the UK for this so-called ‘exotic meat’ could spell disaster for these gentle animals.
Plus, any trade that encourages meat to be flown from the other side of the world can in no way ever be described as green.
The annual kangaroo slaughter in Australia is already the largest massacre of land mammals on the planet today. Each year, millions of kangaroos are shot for their meat and skins.
Baby joeys are bludgeoned, shot or decapitated when their mothers are killed, the ‘worthless’ waste of the industry. Over-hunting and the recent drought have decimated their numbers.
Official Australian government figures show that there are now 33 fewer million kangaroos in the areas used for commercial hunting than just seven years ago – a drop of 57 per cent.
Yet still the killing goes on.Viva! has long campaigned against the sale of kangaroo meat.
The revulsion at massacring the world’s wildlife for food has led to all of the UK’s major retailers dropping kangaroo meat because of our campaign.
Australians – and the rest of us – would be much better off throwing a veggie burger on the barbie if we want to cut our carbon footprint.
Surely it’s greener to cherish our global wildlife by not blasting it inexorably towards extinction.
Justin Kerswell Campaigner,
Viva! York Court,
Wilder Street,
Bristol BS2 8QH.
