Letters to the editor

Queen’s visit was highlight of my year

The Queen’s visit was the highlight of my Mayoral year. It was a privilege to greet Her Majesty on behalf of the town of Royal Leamington Spa.

Her Majesty shook hands with me after an inspection which my CO in the RAF in 1961 could not have bettered. His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh showed great interest in the mayoral chain which dates back to 1875. Altogether it was a marvellous occasion and one which the Mayoress and I will treasure for always. - Cllr Robert Cunliffe, Mayor of Royal Leamington Spa

Police will do their very best

In response to the letter in last week’s Courier from Gurpreet Dulay about policing levels in Leamington.

I am sorry that you are offended by Mr Bristow’s comment that ‘Buildings don’t protect the public, people protect the public’. Let me explain what is meant by this statement and the budget challenges we are facing.

All members of Warwickshire Police are determined to deliver the maximum levels of protection possible from the resources made available to us. With the support of our Police Authority we have already identified how £13.4 million can be removed from our budget over the next four years with minimum impact on the services we deliver to local communities. Removing this amount has meant making tough decisions and significant changes which have affected our entire workforce.

For example, our estate will be smaller and will release money to pay for our workforce and other resources that deliver protection.

There will be three sergeants for Warwick district. One of these sergeants will oversee North and South Leamington, where previously there were two. He or she will be supported by a beat manager who will be a constable who in turn will be supported by a number of community officers.

Safer Neighbourhood Teams operating across Leamington will now be dedicated to working with partners to identify and solve issues of concern in communities and these teams will be supported by dedicated patrol team with officers providing visible patrols.

There is a further £9.5 million worth of reduction in budget to be achieved by the March 31 2015 and work is already well underway to identify how we can achieve this with the least possible increase in risk of harm to the public.

We will continue to prioritise police activity that tackles the most serious harms people face from crime, such as violence, robbery, burglary and vehicle crime, and on our roads, but it will be even more essential to focus the resources we have on these areas. This will mean looking at how we protect people in a different way and which activities we can stop altogether.

Over the next few months, with members of our Police Authority and local partners, we will discuss how we can deliver the maximum amount of protection possible from the budget we have available and produce a range of choices for the consideration of the Authority.

Every member of the Warwickshire Police workforce will do their very best to ensure we deliver as much as we can from the resources provided next year. While levels of protection may not remain the same, the level of protection against the most serious harms, including those that cause death and serious injury, will continue to be our focus and we shall do our very best, individually and collectively, to protect our communities. - Warwickshire Police spokesman.

Silent success!

Last Saturday night I went to see the silent Buster Keaton film, ‘The General’, at the Spa Centre. The film was accompanied by a pianist, Tony Whittaker, playing live in the auditorium. What absolute joy!

The music was carefully chosen to fit the period, and his beautifully fluent playing and precision timing enhanced every nuance of comedy.

The audience responded wholeheartedly, giving a great burst of applause at the end. Perhaps the Spa Centre should consider regular monthly screenings of silent films with piano accompaniment? It was a brilliant evening, rounded off by an excellent dinner at Eleven restaurant. How lucky I am to live near Leamington! - Sue Burt, Eathorpe.

Mogul out of tune

In the Courier of February 25 Pete Waterman, the “pop mogul”, was quoted as saying that this country is becoming “worse than Spain” because it does not have a high-speed rail.

I suggest that the lines should be re-routed past his front-door. Then he can see and hear the trains as often as he likes and congratulate himself upon another “achievement”. - Mr P. Taylor; St Mary’s Terrace, Leamington Spa.

Looking for history of Priory Terrace

I am trying to find out about the history and demolition of 27 and 29 Priory Terrace. I live at number 25, next to the Elephant Wash and numbers 27 and 29 were on what is now a vacant grassy site, just below the Mill Bridge.

I understand that numbers 27 and 29 originally belonged to the mill and were later converted into two residences. The building was, I believe, demolished in the sixties, but why?

I have asked several people at the Local History Group and I have spent some time at Leamington Library but no-one seems to know the answer.

If any of your readers can give me any more information about this building I should be very grateful. My phone number is 315831 and my email address is [email protected]. - Ronnie Goldstein, Priory Terrace, Leamington Spa

Appalled by caution

Faultless treatment

My wife and I were very surprised to read your leading article alleging poor care at Warwick Hospital.

My wife, aged 75, was a patient there from August until October 2010 suffering from a serious bowel problem exacerbated by a suspected stroke, encephalitis and fits.

Although moved from ward to ward as the diagnosis and treament process unfolded, she was at all times treated with dignity, cheerfulness, compassion and sheer professionalism from cleaners to consultants. She is now recovering well and we cannot fault either the treatment that she was given in hospital or the NHS aftercare. A grateful thanks to all concerned from us both. - Name and address supplied.

Fantastic response

On behalf of the Warwickshire South and East branch of the RSPCA I would like to thank you so much for the article that you printed in the 4th of March 2011 issue of the Courier concerning the two break-ins at our Leamington Spa charity shop.

I just wanted you to know that, thanks to the article, we have had several financial donations and a large donation of jewellery to help us to recover. These donations came in after people read about the break-ins in the Courier so we really are very grateful to you. - Alison Hamlin, Warwickshire South and East RSPCA

Treat prosecution with disdain it deserves

The recent declaration by the Crown Prosecution Service that it is to prosecute three Warwickshire firefighters must be treated with the disdain it so thoroughly deserves. When this fire occurred, those three individuals were faced with an incredibly difficult, complex and dangerous situation the like of which, for those who have never experienced the same, is simply not within the realms of understanding.

There will be some of your readers who will be thinking that the firefighters who died should not even have been sent into the building if there were no people trapped inside, but those who ask such questions should know this - firefighters, by the very nature of their job, take that risk every day of the week in order to protect and save property. It is what they are paid for and they take great pride in doing it well.

No incident commander takes lightly the decision to send his or her colleagues into a burning building and every incident commander knows that there is an inherent risk whenever they do so. It is a risk which they themselves have been subjected to on many occasions and they know the risk off by heart. The fact remains, however, that the job remains to be done. The scenario to imagine is quite straightforward - would you want firefighters to enter your house if it was on fire in order to extinguish the fire and save your home and its contents? Or would you be happy to watch them turn up and shoot high pressure jets of water through the doors and windows, so destroying the things they could have saved had they gone inside?

This is the situation we are now faced with and the CPS’s assertion that these prosecutions are “in the public interest” is only accurate in as much as the public needs to be aware that, as this letter is being typed, a junior fire officer somewhere is on his or her way to a fire, in command of, perhaps, two or more fire engines and their crews and has already made the decision that the prospect of saving someone’s property is now secondary to the prospect of being prosecuted if something unforeseen, out of their control yet ultimately tragic happens when they arrive.

Tragic things do happen, but the only people who know what happened to the four firefighters who died are they themselves. Firefighters who were at the fire don’t know, the investigators don’t know and can only guess and it is clear from some of the questioning carried out by the police that they don’t have the first clue what they’re talking about.

For hundreds of years Britain’s firefighters have risked their lives in circumstances that the average person cannot comprehend. If this is the way they are to be treated now and in the in the future, then the job my Grandfather, Father and myself enjoyed and prided ourselves in is gone forever.

My heart bleeds for my friends and colleagues who are going through this unbelievably wrong process. Whatever happens, we know what is right and we know who is wrong.

In conclusion, should the scenario I described above come to pass ie a house fire where firefighters wash the contents out through the doors and windows, then one can only hope the house belongs to one of the Warwickshire Police Officers who have been involved in this investigation. The behaviour of some of them has been nothing short of disgraceful. - Ian Cowley, Retired Divisional Officer, Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Poor use of public funds

To spend three years and millions of pounds investigating the tragedy at Atherstone on Stour with the sole result that some firemen and Warwickshire County Council are to be prosecuted for negligence is a poor use of public funds.

The criminals who set fire to the warehouse are guilty of murder, have not been identified and have gone scot-free.

The men who died were the friends and colleagues of those who now stand accused and they have suffered enough. Please do not pursue them any further in the name of “the public”. Spend the money saved on better training and fire prevention. - Marianne Pitts, Leam Terrace, Leamington Spa.

Let’s hope common sense prevails

I wish to thank you for publishing the letter from Jonathan Wassall this week. His summary of the situation was absolutely full of common sense.

I know one of the men charged personally and I recall the event so well and his reaction the following day as he explained how he had given the kiss of life (unsuccessfully) to one of the victims - a close friend and colleague.

I have also followed the legal antics that have subsequently taken place and the tremendous distress it has brought on him, and his family, and his friends.

The firefighting team that night did what they always do. They gave all they had in a combination of expertise and bravery and they all shared in the tragedy that occurred. In the end I pray that common sense will prevail. - John Harwood, Redlands Park, Lighthorne.

Disgusted by decision to prosecute

I am writing to express my sheer disgust and disappointment at the recent decision of the CPS, against three courageous firefighters.

These firefighters were doing their jobs. This was a tragic situation beyond their control and it is an absolute disgrace that the CPS have decided to charge them.

They were faced with an unimaginable situation and were merely doing a job they were highly trained for, with courage and bravery. Four lives have already been destroyed due to a situation beyond their control.

They died doing a job they loved and were proud to be a part of. Is it right for the CPS to destroy more families in this tragic case? The answer is no! If this is what happens, are firefighters to stand by and watch a person’s home be destroyed by fire and their belongings perish? If that was your home or your business you would want them to do the job they are trained to do? Are firefighters to be held responsible for any lives lost in fire or in road traffic accidents... What a proposterous suggestion.

Nobody will ever know what happened to these four fire fighters but I am sure you will agree they will be looking down on this in disgust. These firefighters did not start the fire, they were there to put it out, like any other minor or major job they have attended over their incredibly difficult career.

How is this justice? Why are they being held accountable for a situation beyond any person’s control? While you ask yourselves this, take a moment to think why the person/people who started this fire are still out there and consider this as nothing less than a disgrace. - Kyleigh Oliver, via email.