Last updated 16:03, Wednesday, 06 August 2008

SIR – I have been very interested in the reporting of the developments relating to the Energy Coast Strategy. As a person with an interest in business strategy, my view is that in principle, this is a sound approach, making best use of geographical, funding, people and timing issues to deliver real potential benefits to the west coast and beyond. But look out for the word potential.

SIR – I would like to say what a brilliant event the people who organised the Status Quo concert did. This area really does lack getting events like this on and I think they did a great job.

We normally have to travel out of the county to get to events like this but to attend this and just walk home was a great feeling.

Status Quo were very, very good and anyone who thought about going but did not missed a real event I will never forget. Thanks again to Mr Richardson and his team for organising this and hope that they do it again next year.

C STAINTON

Whitehaven

SIR – What a fantastic night we all had on Saturday with the legendary Status Quo. No doubt the biggest crowd that the Haven ground has ever had. Rick Parfitt even came out late afternoon to talk to the fans and to sign autographs. I hope that this event will be the first of many like it.

It must have brought a lot of money into the town, I would like to bet that hotels, bed and breakfast, pubs, cafes etc had an increase in takings so why not do the right thing, put some money back into the fund.

Who would ever have thought that the people with houses overlooking the ground would have Status Quo virtually playing in their own back gardens?

I would like to thank everyone involved in the organisation of this great event. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and as far as I could see there didn’t seem to be any trouble.

Tony JENKINSON

High Meadows, Whitehaven

SIR – It was wonderful to see a world class band on a world class stage in Whitehaven on Saturday, when Status Quo played the rugby ground.

The sound was spot on, the atmosphere good natured and the support bands well worth listening to.

It was especially good to see It Bites return to West Cumbria, I’m looking forward to seeing them at the Civic Hall later this month.

A big change from when Quo last played in this area, at the legendary Tow Bar in the 60s, their main claim to fame at that time was ‘Pictures of Matchstick Men’; also when they signed autographs in the Whitehouse in the 80s.

The firework display was a fine ending to an excellent night, let’s hope it’s the first of many. Maybe even a music festival, like Maryport, it doesn’t have to be Blues, it could be a different theme each night.

All in all a fantastic night and well done to the organisers.

John O’BRIEN

George Street, Whitehaven

Energy Coast has drawbacks

SIR – We welcome the government’s commitment to developing West Cumbria as an Energy Coast, we, hope that the commitment has come in time to save at least some of the jobs. Liberal Democrats have been advocating investment in renewables for many years. We fear that this investment is too little too late as even the nuclear option will not resolve the energy crisis that is already upon us at least 10 years.

How much can we, in West Cumbria, rely on these proposals? Several points spring to mind:

If this is all so wonderful, why, with Labour in power for 10 years now, wasn’t this done years ago? We have lost much over the last decade, shouldn’t this type of initiative been implemented before services and facilities such as post offices had gone.

With previous promises of a ‘West Coast Proofing’ proving empty, how much can we rely on this glossy picture becoming reality?

Jamie Reed MP was quoted as saying, “All of these investments are taking place right now”. How much of the money proffered is new or is previous allocations being rehashed, a common, trick of this Labour government.

Successive governments of both persuasions massively under-invested in renewables to the point of forcing us down the nuclear route, so why trust to politicians who have consistently demonstrated no faith in renewable’s who promise their development now?

Liberal Democrats, locally, across the county and nationally, have consistently demanded expanding this coast into renewables and away from a dependency on one industry and employer. We have shouted for investment before services have been removed, not after. Think on this: Both the Labour and Tories acknowledge that although nuclear power is their answer to cover a potential, energy gap (created by their inaction in energy conservation and development of renewables), it has major drawbacks such as waste. So we are effectively leaving more problems to our future generations whatever the spin they care to put on this.

Frank HOLLOWELL

Copeland Parliamentary Spokesperson,

Lowca, Whitehaven

A good strategy – but expect more

Key point 1 – be strong!

Can anyone give me a list of the other areas of the country positively embracing new nuclear investment? We are in an extremely strong position in an industrial sector which is about to invest hundreds of billions of pounds. Against this context £2b sounds a little less attractive. It’s important that we judge the value not from a weak and under invested past but from a strong and prosperous future position – don’t give it away cheaply!

Key point 2 – take a good look at the benefits.

A new £100m hospital – hurrah! Does this mean that we won’t get one without committing to a long term nuclear future? Is this the re-packaging of an existing benefit?

Investment in schools – hurrah! Presumably we won’t be getting investment otherwise? Surely our children deserve investment regardless?

University of Cumbria in the west – given that half of the population and most of the industrial skill base of Cumbria lies in the west, why on earth isn’t it here already?

Transport – £30m on the A66 – what? That will deliver a couple of miles of widening. My clients will not travel to West Cumbria if I ask them to drive past the obvious South Lakes route to add another hour to the journey on the ‘tour of north Cumbria’. The links from the new High Newton bypass to Barrow and Barrow to Whitehaven are a regional disgrace – we should be within 90 minutes of Manchester – not three hours. Compare us to north Wales – a very similar area economically and geographically. The support of the Welsh Office and now the Welsh assembly has delivered the M55 and protected main line rail and deep water ferry services. Why should we put up with less?

Have high expectations and settle for nothing less. This is a one off opportunity – squander it and we can ensure that the west remains an isolated bywater for good. The overall strategy will increase prosperity and security for the west, but the opportunity to lever real, substantial and rapid growth requires a much higher level of ambition from our politicians, development bodies and media. It might even help if we recognise that the whole west coast industrial strip from Maryport to Barrow has a clear and collective interest.

Transport – we must as a minimum deal with the appalling road network south from Whitehaven to Barrow and M6 J36 – this alone will significantly reduce journey times and associated carbon emissions. This is key to regeneration.

Strategy – we must have much greater clarity about what the actual strategy is. What will it look like for jobs, education and training, long term viability – how will we recognise success when we see it? Who will be responsible for delivery?

Spin – stop it! If we’re not going to get hospitals, schools, university access and road investment without this, tell us and tell us why. If we are, stop tying the things together – it’s dishonest and undermines clarity.

Future, not past – this is a one off opportunity for the west to develop world leadership status in the non-fossil fuels arena. If we get it right, we can be the energy equivalent of Silicone Valley. If we put up with a bit of investment made to look bigger by spinning it as more than it is, we will squander the opportunity. This area has put up with crumbs from the table for too long – don’t accept £2bn (probably £1bn plus some re-packaged existing planned investment) and think it’s a good deal – the opening of our local economy for long term prosperity won’t be achieved without significant infrastructure and development investment – you don’t get that for this kind of money.

So, stand your ground, fight for the long term prosperity of the area and don’t sell the family silver cheaply! We deserve it and more importantly, our children deserve it.

Alan BRENTON

Main Street, Ravenglass

Gore blimey, it’s tough research

SIR – I been researching my family history and discovered that my grandparents lived in an area of the town known as Gore’s Buildings. Both of my grandparents are living but have no photographs of these buildings and do not know of any that exist.

The houses were situated close to the recently converted Kirk Mission on High Street.

The houses were not on High Street but tucked behind what appears to be the very top of Scotch Street near to the Top Park.

I would be very interested to hear from anybody who has any photographs of this area.

I can be contacted via the Whitehaven News or at

emmamcgordon@hotmail.co.uk.

Emma McGORDON

Time to watch those Americans

SIR – It’s rather strange, but we seem to copy the American vocabulary, like ‘academy’ and ‘carers’, and some of our singers seem to copy their accent.

This reminds me, an American was moving house and he was carrying a Grandfather clock, and accidently knocked into a bloke. The bloke got up and said “For crying out loud, why the hell don’t you wear a wristlet watch same as anyone else. Ha! ha! You have to laugh.

James TAYLOR

Mid-Town Close, Distington

SIR – Can I bring it to your attention about the problem of speeding tractors through the popular village of Moresby Parks?

I have just been visiting my brother and his young family who live on the main road through the village. I must say that I was a bit bemused as to why they were not playing out on such a beautiful evening. In the 90 or so minutes that I was there, no fewer than 14 tractors went speeding through this so-called little village, and when I say speeding I do mean speeding.

If these were people in cars they would most certainly be prosecuted but for tractor drivers there must be a different law, they were literally charging through the village with absolutely no respect for other traffic or more importantly for the residents on this particular stretch of road.

My brother says that the tractors are always like this. Surely there must be something to be done about this before some innocent person is injured?

Name and address supplied

Olympics shed light on rights

SIR – There is now only a few hours to go until the Beijing Olympics, but Amnesty members campaigning in Whitehaven recently collected many signatures from people disappointed to see that the Chinese authorities have still not made promised improvements to human rights.

Ever since China won the right to host the Games, Amnesty has been calling on the Chinese leaders to honour the promises they made during the bidding process – that human rights would be improved.

Instead we have seen more and more activists and journalists locked up or intimidated to keep them quiet until the Olympics are over. And world leaders and the International Olympics Committee have failed to put pressure on China to start respecting the rights of Chinese people.

Amnesty isn’t opposed to China hosting the Games. But unless major reforms are made right now, the legacy of Beijing 2008 will be a tarnished reputation for the Olympics, not better conditions for people in China.

Alan ALEXANDER

Amnesty West Cumbria

Whitehaven

Community rally round to help

SIR – I am writing to thank all Argos customers and staff who have generously donated money to Leukaemia Research, Argos Official UK charity partner.

The Whitehaven Argos store has raised vital funds for Leukaemia Research by having collection tins in their store.

The charity partnership between Argos and Leukaemia Research ran from July 2007 to July 2008 and has raised over £810,000, to date, doubling the initial target of £400,000.

All the money raised will fund a special database which will help Leukaemia Research record symptoms and treatments of different types of blood cancer to help spot patterns and make future treatment more effective.

Leukaemia Research relies entirely on voluntary donations, so it was excellent to see the local community helping us to fundraise to help save the lives of blood cancer patients, and if anyone would like to help us more at our local branch please contact John Dixon 01946 824 060.

Our thanks once again.

John DIXON

West Cumbria Branch

Leukaemia Research

Riverside Drive, Egremont

Bollards serve useful purpose

SIR – I would like to reply to Michael Moon’s letter (July 10), regarding what he describes as a proliferation of street furniture, ie bollards, outside The Whitehaven News entrance and opposite Dr Ironside’s surgery.

I, for many years, have tried to stop large vehicles from mounting the pavement outside our house. Over the years these same vehicles have caused an awful lot of damage to our house both inside and outside, causing us to spend a considerable amount of money on repairs to our house.

Also, because of motorists parking illegally opposite our house on the pavement and double yellow lines, meant all these large vehicles having to come even closer to our house when mounting the pavement, coming within eight to ten inches away from our house and door, putting our lives at risk as well as our house.

As for the bollards outside The Whitehaven News entrance, just look at the corner of The Whitehaven News, it has been hit several times over the years by these large vehicles. In fact even now old tyre marks can still be seen behind those bollards, which now protect The Whitehaven News, and more importantly, its staff and customers alike.

But all this has been well documented over the years, either by my letters to the local press, and also the local press reporting on my efforts to achieve safety and security to our house and family.

But I will agree with Michael Moon who I respect, that the bollards may be physically and aesthetically obtrusive, but to us are a godsend, ending years of fear, worry and not having to spend large amounts of money on repairs.

Therefore, while I agree that bollards may not be an ideal solution, I must defend Capital, to whom we are indebted for their efforts in trying to protect us, our house, The Whitehaven News, its staff and its customers.

Tony STEPHENSON

Queen Street

Whitehaven

Hospice patients will be winners

SIR – May I thank everybody who supported our store collection in the Millom branch of Somerfield, on Saturday, July 26.

We raised £335.43 for Hospice at Home West Cumbria, a substantial sum that will give our funds a significant boost. Thanks also to the staff at Somerfield who made us so welcome in their store.

Hospice at Home West Cumbria has to raise about £350,000 every year through voluntary contributions – fundraising, legacies and donations. We rely heavily on the support of the local people, so we may continue to provide the highest standard of care and support for our patients and their families. All of our services are provided free of charge to patients in their own homes within the West Cumbria area.

Income from this collection will be of great benefit to Hospice at Home, helping to maintain our Day and Night nursing service, Day Centres and Drop-ins.

Gillian CHADWICK

Fundraiser, Hospice at Home