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It's your shout

If Roger Hugh Butler (Letter about turtles etc. last week) was stranded on a desert island would he resort to eating his fellow castaways, I wonder, having eaten his fill of domestic animals, insects and vermin etc?
We all make choices about what we want to eat all the time. I happen to like vegetarian food because it tastes good and I believe it's healthy, and less likely to give you food poisoning. I also believe that if the whole world turned vegetarian there would be more food to go round and we would be healthier and, possibly, less violent.
Just because we have an appendix it doesn't mean we have to eat tough roots, or whatever that now effectively redundant piece of the digestive tract was designed to cope with. Similarly, because we have canine teeth it doesn't mean we have to eat meat to be complete human beings. There are millions of people all over the world who are vegetarians for a variety of reasons; it's difficult to believe they are all "in denial".
In any case I certainly would eat meat if that was all that was on the menu, and probably enjoy it, too. Not all vegetarians have ethical drums to bang.
Chris Bono, Reservoir Road, Solihull.

HAVING written several letters a few months back complaining about thoughtless tractor drivers slowing up traffic on the Stratford Road between Henley in Arden and Hockley Heath I felt compelled to write once again - this time in a positive manor.
Fair is fair and where credit is due etc.. Farmers were out in force over the weekend as some unlikely sunny weather provided the perfect opportunity for harvesting crops. And one particular tractor driver - maybe he read my previous correspondance - drove exactly as I was asking them to.
Every half a mile or so and when a few cars had gathered behind him, he pulled over into a lay-by or to the side of the road so people could pass calmly and safely.
And the result: No angry motorists undertaking dangerous overtaking moves and blood pressures all kept to a happy minimum. Well done Mr Farmer.
S Gonzales
Via e-mail.

WHAT we really need to tackle these mindless vandals who go around damaging people's cars and spraying grafitti everywhere is good old fashioned policing.
Polictical correctness has gone wrong and has led to these tearaways getting away with this kind of atrocity. When I was a teenager the local bobby knew everyone by their first name, knew everyone's parents and made sure the naughty kids were brough into line - usually with a good old clip around the ear or a kick up the backside.
Sadly thoses days have gone and any policeman adopting this attitude would probably lose their job and be sued by the 'victim'.
What a joke. These kids need someone to take a firm hand with them from an early age. The problem now is that anyone brave enough to do so is likely to get seriously injured or even killed as we hear on the national news this week.
Even ASBOs are considered somthing of medals of honour by these yobs. My suggestion would be not to threaten these kids with jail but a good old fashioned spell of National Service. I'm sure six months on the frontline of Afghanistan and Iraq would be enough of a deterrent for them.
M Taylor
Knowle

Richard Wise of the KSA (Keep Shops Away) group is nothing if he is not hypocritical.
When will he realise that Shirley is not the centre of the universe and that all Solihull residents have a legitimate interest in the prosperity and progress that the Parkgate will achieve that? At the moment Shirley Shopping Centre is certainly not fit for purpose in the early 21st Century.
Mr Wise is happy to praise a prejudiced programme fronted by Matt James an outsider who lives in London simply because he is prepared to praise a few tatty trees. Which he and the Keep Shops Away (KSA) group are using as an excuse to prevent Shirley becoming a modern shopping centre that people from Shirley and Solihull will want to visit.
If this head in the sand attitude wins the day then this chance for prosperity and progress will be lost for Shirley and Solihull residents.
B. D Jones Solihull

Dear Sir, I watched the Insider Programme with great interest and was saddened by the imminent destruction of the unique oak circle in Shirley. Councillor Meeson looked ill at ease when trying to justify the removal of these "poor specimens" which had been vandalised. Having visited the area the following morning, I agree that some vandalism has been done to the main tree but not nearly as much as will be done to the area by the minority conservative council. Councillor Meeson tried to further his cause by stating that the oak circle was not part of Shirley park but an "extension of the car park". Is this the same Shirley park that won a Green Flag award last year for "Conservation/Heritage, Community Involvement and Management"? Parkgate or whatever they choose to label it now makes a mockery of the award and of the council's green pledges. People talk of what will happen next May in the Local elections. By then it will be too late for the oak circle so I urge people to visit it now and see for themselves what they are giving up. The people of Shirley have been ignored by the council. We alone have been vocal in our opposition to this plan. What will happen when the council plan to remove parkland elsewhere in the borough for more concrete? Who will speak out then?
Yours etc, C.Doyle, Gilliver road, Shirley, B902DBDear Sir, I watched the Insider Programme with great interest and was saddened by the imminent destruction of the unique oak circle in Shirley. Councillor Meeson looked ill at ease when trying to justify the removal of these "poor specimens" which had been vandalised. Having visited the area the following morning, I agree that some vandalism has been done to the main tree but not nearly as much as will be done to the area by the minority conservative council. Councillor Meeson tried to further his cause by stating that the oak circle was not part of Shirley park but an "extension of the car park". Is this the same Shirley park that won a Green Flag award last year for "Conservation/Heritage, Community Involvement and Management"? Parkgate or whatever they choose to label it now makes a mockery of the award and of the council's green pledges. People talk of what will happen next May in the Local elections. By then it will be too late for the oak circle so I urge people to visit it now and see for themselves what they are giving up. The people of Shirley have been ignored by the council. We alone have been vocal in our opposition to this plan. What will happen when the council plan to remove parkland elsewhere in the borough for more concrete? Who will speak out then?
Yours etc, C.Doyle, Gilliver road, Shirley, B902DB

Oh  dear  very  sick  and  tired,perhaps  you  should  be  very  grateful  to  the  police  for
Being  woken  up; especialy  in  the uncertian  times  that  we  live  in  today.
I think  we  should  all  thank  God  that  we  have  got  people  that  are  willing
To  put  their  lives  on  line  to  make  sure  that  we  can  sleep  safely  at  night,
So  lets  give  the boys  in  blue  a  big  thank you.
God   bless  you  all
P Thomas

I am absolutely disgusted with the way Solihull Council allow rats to run wild in our beautiful tree lined parks. Taking a walk in Shirley Park last Thursday I stopped to speak with a local resident. Whilst we were talking I turned to admire a huge big tree, but then I was absolutely horrified to see literally dozens of rats running in and out of holes in the soil around the tree roots. It was 4 o'clock on a summer's afternoon and the vermin were running about all over the place. The local resident remarked that it had been like that for a long time. I know other people who live near Solihull town centre who have rats in their gardens and I have seen rats in broad daylight running about on the pavement outside the schools on Whitefields Road, in Tudor Grange Park and in a town centre car park. This has been getting steadily worse for the last few years and I should like to know what the council are doing about it. I hear they are thinking of charging residents for environmental health visits. Do they not realize that such an action will make it worse because many people will not be able to afford to have the rat-catchers in and the problem will become even more neglected. Don't tell my you haven't the money to spend on it because it is a priority and not an issue for budget cuts. For goodness sake Tory run council, this is 2007 surely something can be done. Wake up, you have a huge problem here, do something quickly before we have to call in the Pied Piper.
Glenis Slater
Solihull

Councillor David Bell is quoted on the Solihull MBC website as saying: "I am
delighted that Solihull's parks are counted amongst the best in the country
and that our work to make the borough greener .......very proud of the
efforts by our staff to help ensure that this borough is a such a lovely
place in which to live.." when referring to another green flag award for
Shirley Park.
Can he please explain how he squares this with Councillor Meeson's comments
on TV (C4 Friday 10th Aug) when he said that the oak trees in Shirley Park
were of no value and thought the 3 acres would be improved by a lot of ASDA,
& other, concrete ? He also objected to the brambles - perhaps a little of
the aforementioned "effort" could solve this.
Can he explain why the Council stopped mowing the grass only a couple of
years ago, so that they can now describe it as waste ground? The camera in
the sky shows how well kept it was until recently (see http://local.live.com
on the internet and take a look for yourself).
The Council not only want to sell off some of our park, but also "stop" a
footpath through it. Make your views know to the Council before the deadline
of 31st Aug 2007. I am sure there will be critical letters in the press to
follow, but that is democracy for you and we should use it.
Robert Cawte
Jacey Road, Shirley

I write to express my disappointment following the High Court ruling confirming the decision of NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) to restrict NHS drug treatment for people diagnosed in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Last year I gave my support to a motion in Parliament, backed by the Alzheimer’s Society, calling on the Health Secretary to ensure that doctors could continue to prescribe effective Alzheimer’s drugs treatment to those who can benefit.
Despite best representations to demonstrate treatment costing just £2.50 a day can slow down the onset of the disease prolonging active, independent living for sufferers, the nation’s most senior judges have ruled that the NICE decision to deny drugs until the later stages of the illness is lawful.
This takes us back full circle to the newly appointed Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnston to intervene on behalf of many thousands of sufferers and their carers.
Even GPs have been denied the opportunity to prescribe the drugs, having to refer patients to a consultant.
I know many families and sufferers in Solihull and across the country who will be deeply disappointed by this decision.
Lorely Burt MP
Solihull

Many thanks to all those who have signed the Conservative petition to keep bin collections weekly. On Saturday (11th) my team and I spent two hours talking to people in Solihull about this and we were impressed by the support we received. 
We also noticed how many come from far and wide to enjoy the excellent shopping facilities in Touchwood and the rest of the town. People from Coventry, Stratford, Warwick, Kenilworth, Nottingham, Sutton Coldfield, and many other places, come regularly to shop here and are full of praise for the well-maintained shopping areas, as well as the beautiful flowers which help to create the ambience of the town centre.
There are plenty of politicians who readily talk the town down for their own ends: I am not one of them.
Maggie Throup
Parliamentary Spokesman
Solihull Conservatives
 

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