July 11
Restoration has improved theatre Ever since the recent restoration of the Theatre Royal, letters to the Bury Free Press have complained about how unpleasant, inconvenient and uncomfortable it has become.
Am I alone in thinking that the theatre has been improved by its restoration?
Before restoration, there was little space for people to relax or partake of drinks or refreshment before or after the show and during intervals. There was one small, cramped bar on the first floor.
Now there is a large bar and restaurant, where you can have a civilised interval drink in true comfort. There are now more toilets than there were previously and these, too, have more space and are more accessible.
There is also a rewarding exhibition on the history of the theatre in the new restaurant area, which does not receive a mention.
The new layout is faithful to the spirit of Regency theatre. It preserves a unique historic identity and creates a traditional atmosphere and allows the visitor to experience a historic theatre layout, but is fully compatible with up-to-date drama.
Although the seats are not padded, they are adapted for the human posture and are not uncomfortable.
The new layout makes the stage more visible: previously I have booked a seat behind a pillar, or at the side, which limited my view. Now the stage can be seen properly from all angles.
Before and after restoration the Theatre Royal has staged a varied, rewarding and entertaining programme of drama and entertainment for all tastes, age groups and classes at modest cost. I would urge people to forget prejudice and go to the Theatre Royal for a most enjoyable time.
Robert Halliday,
Philip Road,
Bury St Edmunds.
Hedges are overgrown
I drive a coach with school children on board through narrow country lanes.
The hedges are so overgrown, hanging out into the road up to two feet and, to avoid broken mirrors and windscreens, I have to drive on the crown of the road most of the time.
With the health and safety issues that are pressed upon us, can the county council find the time to cut these hedges to avoid a possible major
accident?
I am sure that parents and other motorists will agree with this point of view.
Roger Stittle,
Whepstead.
Give us good news, then
Cllr Sara Mildmay-White states in last week's Bury Free Press that perhaps mischievous press reporting led to the loss of a recent grant request for more money from EEDA.
Perhaps if the council had been more pro-active in promoting the good side of this project, they might not be so miffed at the raft of negative press from worried tax-payers.
There have been many negative press stories – they are all from people who pay their Council Tax and are worried about the continuing escalation of the costs of the new venue on the Cattle Market development.
Costs have now gone from
10 million in 2003 to
12 million in 2005 and now... it's at 16.4 million.
Could it be that it's very difficult to save face when costs keep dramatically escalating, dates of completion keep moving and money is pouring out, with little or no good news, no proposed bookings, no news of major events which could make the venue into a really viable and profitable business.
Let's look ahead and ask what's the business plan? What are the projected annual running costs, and staffing costs etc? How much revenue is projected to be brought in and when will it make a profit?
What will the finished facilities really be like? Let's hope the pennies being pinched now will not leave Bury St Edmunds with a less than perfect venue. One hopes Bury will have a great, profitable public venue that will be an asset to the whole area and not end up with a great white elephant.
Tom Murray,
Howard estate,
Bury St Edmunds.
All caring people in West Suffolk look to St Edmundsbury council to preserve the best of this historic town, enchance the parts that spoil it, make decisions that will improve the economy for both businesses and residents, ensure that Bury St Edmunds continues to be a wonderful place to live and for tourists to enjoy and, above all, to do all of these things professionally and with economic competence.
All those same caring people who have eyes and ears also know that over the last few years there has been a catalogue of decisions that, sadly, indicate that the council has a very poor record in achieving such aims.
Not least is the white elephant public building in the Cattle Market development, which many of your correspondents have made clear is an economic folly that will lose money (apart from that already being lost in its escalating building cost).
Exception must be taken to the remark of Cllr Sara Mildmay-White, quoted in last week's Bury Free Press, over the refusal of East of England Development Agency to top up its 1.5 million grant for the public building with yet another 500,000 as the costs rocket out of hand.
She speculates that 'mischievous press reporting led to that grant decision'.
I am unaware of any mischievous reporting by the Bury Free Press – only a non-stop flood of thoughtful readers' letters on that subject.
It is your taxpayers, CllrMildmay-White, who are being mischievous; and thank goodness the Bury Free Press is there for us to have a chance to warn a wider population of what is being done to this town that is irreversible and one day will be regretted – the press does not know these letters are coming, but thankfully it does provide a public forum that gives us a chance to try to make you listen. Do you never read the letters?
John Chitttock,
Wickhambrook.
Onus now is on licensees
The licensees of The Rose and Crown, in Whiting Street, Bury St Edmunds, need not fear the Special Licensing Policy proposed by us and now overwhelmingly approved for formal consultation by the Licensing Authority (Letters, July 4).
Indeed, if implemented, it will ensure that there will be no later opening hours or new premises in this area except those which will not add to the cumulative impact of the existing licences.
Should Mr and Mrs Fayers (who by all accounts run an excellent establishment) wish to increase their drinking hours, it will be up to them now to show this will not increase alcohol-related problems, instead of residents having to show it will. The onus of 'proof' merely switches from resident to landlord.
The support for our proposal was overwhelming, including Suffolk Constabulary, David Ruffley MP, Bury St Edmunds Town Council, the Churchgate Area Association (200 or so members) and the many residents who wrote in.
As for 'rallying the troops', we local councillors are not allowed to object in writing or in person to any application in Abbeygate, unlike planning where we do have a say. Consequently we are only able to advise residents in the vicinity – who are the people entitled to make representations.
We do our best to represent all in our area. Mr and Mrs Fayers know we have tried to set up a licensees'/residents' forum, without much success. But so often we local councillors are seen to be too tough by the publicans and not tough enough by the residents.
Cllrs Paul Farmer and Richard Rout,
Borough and town councillors, Abbeygate Ward.
A shocking incident
Yesterday, a car driven by an older man pulled in front of me on to a roundabout in Bury without looking or giving way. I had to brake quite sharply to avoid a collision (as did the car behind me), so I tooted my horn once at this vehicle.
To my utter shock, the driver pulled his car level with me and, through his open window, proceeded to shout the most obscene profanities at me, as did the woman in the passenger seat, along with some choice hand gestures. I estimate that this man and woman were around 70 years old!
I was a young woman, alone in my car, yet these people swore at me and called me the most disgusting names imaginable, merely for driving correctly.
There truly can be no hope left for this country if even the elderly people of a quiet, beautiful town like Bury St Edmunds cannot set a suitable example to the youth of today and behave in this despicable manner towards a young woman.
I don't mind admitting that I went home and cried.
Mrs J Hodgson,
Bury St Edmunds.
We've got it licked
With reference to Jeff Taylor's letter (Bury Free Press, June 27), my family and I have been saving our used stamps for some time.
We take them to the RSPCA, it is very glad of them.
Mrs E Wicks,
King's Road,
Bury St Edmunds.
There's too much litter
Despite the recent BBC Radio Suffolk Don't be a Tosser campaign, there still seems to be a disconcerting amount of litter dropped, particularly in and near the West Suffolk Hospital site, in Bury St Edmunds.
Sometimes it's fast food packaging tossed out of cars – it is not 'cool' to take your rubbish home, I suppose.
A couple of specific questions for regular users of this area: If Red Bull energy drink doesn't give you enough energy to lift your right arm and put the empty can in the bin by the bus stop, why drink it?
And if the smoker of Mayfair cigarettes thinks that their absolute refusal to throw away the empty packet is some kind of protest against the smoking ban in public places, then I'm sorry to have to tell you that it bothers the Government not one bit. It just upsets those of us who wonder if it is too much to expect to be able to live and walk in an environment free from other people's litter.
Name and address supplied.
Fete was a big success
On Saturday, June 14, Riverwalk School held its first summer fete.
Margaret Charlesworth officially opened the fete to the 200 visitors who enjoyed the day.
The fete was held on Westgate Primary School playing field and we would like to extend a huge thank-you to them for allowing us to use their land.
We would also like to thank everyone who helped to make the event such a success. I was moved to tears by the goodwill we met from so many folk.
We made more than 1,000 at this enjoyable event. This money funds the summer play scheme, providing supervised activities for pupils during the holidays.
It is staffed mainly by learning support assistants and teachers from Riverwalk School, as these are the people who know the children best.
Louise Healy and Lisbeth Romoleotes,
Friends of Riverwalk School.
Thanks for honesty
On behalf of my son, I would like to thank the young woman who handed in his mobile phone. She rang me to say she had found it at Rougham Airfield, on Sunday, June 29.
She handed it in to the lost property office there, from where he collected it.
It is good to know there are some honest youngsters around.
E E Turner,
Lark Road,
Mildenhall.
Opportunity to see airfield
As the chairman of the Friends of Rougham Airfield I was responsible for inviting the councillors to our recent event. The correspondence in your paper (Bury Free Press, July 4) concerning the possibility of compromise of impartiality needs a little more background information.
Rougham Airfield is one of the last remaining World War Two airfields that has an active flying capacity and has great historical importance.
The events that we run on the airfield are a major tourist attraction and we recently found out that our information page on the Bury tourism website got more hits by the public than Bury Cathedral.
Thousands of visitors from all over the country come to the events and we especially invite children, who get in free if under 12. The international Kite Festival that is held every year at Rougham Airfield is part of the Bury Festival.
Knowing that very few, if any, of the councillors had actually visited Rougham Airfield during events, we considered that an open invitation to attend would at least give them an opportunity to see the airfield in action and understand how the proposed developments would affect our future operations.
The costs of running the airfield events rise every year and we are at the mercy of the weather, which can decimate attendance figures. However, we always manage to make regular donations to the East Anglian Air Ambulance and help other charitable organisations who use the airfield. The borough council used one of our events as a stage for their own event, which was the presentation of the Freedom of the Borough to World War Two veterans. Many hundreds attended and it was a very special occasion.
The control tower at the centre of the airfield has been lovingly restored and has Grade II-listed status. It is a registered war memorial and many US families continue to visit and pay their respects to the memorial.
Knowing the current development plans and proposed link road seriously threaten the future economic viability of all of our events and knowing that only one of two councillors had any idea of what went on during a show day, we considered that an open invitation to visit the airfield would be a most constructive gesture. At no time did any of us feel that there was any attempt to compromise their impartiality or any other inducement offered.
What we are trying to achieve is a better understanding for all concerned of the devastating effect the current development would have on our future activities and an appreciation by the councillors of the wonderful resource that the airfield provides, which, if ever compromised, could lead to the loss of Bury St Edmunds' unique and irreplaceable showground.
Peter Sweet,
Chairman,
Friends of Rougham Airfield.
EU to blame for closures
The news that local post offices are to close is very disappointing to the villages affected, mine included, but your headline quote 'Decision was already made' (Bury Free Press, June 27) says it all.
As I wrote a few weeks ago, the decision had to be made to comply with the EU subsidy rules. The government has reached the limit of the subsidy allowed and that is that.
What is particularly worrying is that nobody in government was prepared to admit this, nor are they warning us that these closures are unlikely to be the last. All they do is to encourage us to stop using post offices by advertising heavily the online services offered for renewing car tax, for example, even to the extent of offering cars as prizes in a draw run for those who heed the call. It becomes easier then to claim that post offices are being under-used.
Now to our local MPs: If they don't know the real reason for the closures, we should be worried; if they do, we should be even more worried.
It is now par for the course that we are not told about the progress of the great European dream. Not only were we denied a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, but we haven't been told what the introduction of it means to us. The Irish got an inkling and didn't like it, but we aren't told and for good reason: We would like it even less.
Next year we have the chance of using the European Parliamentary elections as the referendum we were promised and never had. It is vital that we use that chance.
David Wedgwood,
Cowlinge.
I was intrigued with the front page story about Post Office closures (Bury Free Press, June 27) and the comments made by opponents, postmasters and mistresses and in particular the one by Laura Tarling, Post Offices Ltd's network development manager, who was reported as saying: "These are difficult decisions which have not been taken lightly. We have considered very carefully all the comments made during the public consultation."
What was missing from the end of this statement, in my opinion, was the following sentence . . . 'and have ignored all of them because our hands are tied'.
Who made the decision? The Royal Mail? The Government? No, our masters in Brussels – the European Union. EU Directives 97/67/EC and 2002/39/EC have had dire consequences for the Royal Mail over the years.
And what of our local MPs who have campaigned to Save Our Post Offices?
Did they know the above facts beforehand or are they ignorant of the truth?
If anyone wishes to receive a free factsheet on the history leading up to PO closures and EU involvement, please send me a SAE or alternatively view a 20-minute film, entitled Remote Control on www.InDem Group.org and/or NoRemoteControl.org
Hopefully, campaigners will then be able to say 'now we understand it'.
Ian Smith,
9 Philip Road,
Bury St Edmunds.
Blue badge is a must-have
With reference to the letter from Tony Pilling regarding blue badges (Bury Free Press, June 27).
I assume he's not disabled himself and nor would I wish him to be, but having lived with MS since the age of 43 – six years now with the condition, worsening as time goes on –my blue badge is a must-have item. Never-the-less, the car is always parked safely and legally.
If the few bays we have in the town centre were used only by people permitted to use them, I'm sure that would alleviate some of the problem.
Also, the bays in the car park in Risbygate Street are much too far from the town centre. As a wheelchair user, if the uneven pavements hadn't caused me to fall out – which has almost happened on numerous occasions – I'd have been shaken to within an inch of my life.
Regarding free car parking, it's not country-wide and some of us are still fairly poor, so any concession is much appreciated.
While there are still some people with a badge that shouldn't have one, most of us are quite genuine and the majority park legally and safely according to blue badge rules.
Andrew Parton,
East Barton Road,
Great Barton.
Lost lamb
If anyone found a Marks and Spencer soft toy sheep/lamb in the Abbey Gardens/toilets please could they hand it in to the Bury Free Press offices. It is white and grey with pink ears and was lost on Thursday, July 3. I have a unhappy daughter who would love to be reunited with her favourite toy.
Elizabeth Vaughan,
Sapiston.
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Weather for Bury St Edmunds
Wednesday 08 February 2012
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