Train passengers forced to fork out

The government’s failure to act has left local train commuters from Chippenham to Bath and Bristol, Kemble, Cheltenham, Swindon or London, to fork out ever more eye watering amounts for increasingly unreliable journeys.

All this in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

Ministers really cannot keep turning a blind eye to these problems.

The reality is that people are paying more for less on our rail network.

There are more delays and cancellations, compounded by the government’s failure to deal with the strikes.

Yet prices for tickets and season tickets keep rising.

If this government had even a shred of decency, they would freeze rail fares immediately.

That at least would help families struggling under the cost-of-living crisis that Liz Truss and her Conservatives colleagues helped to create.

But like their Wiltshire Councillor chums, the Tory government’s message to the rest of us is “pay more to get less”.

Only a change of national and local leadership will alter that.

Dr Brian Mathew

Wiltshire Councillor for Box and Colerne

Voter ID plan will be a disaster

For the first time ever, voters in this year’s local elections for Swindon council will have to bring photo ID to the polling station.

This isn’t a small adjustment – voter ID is the biggest change to our elections in a generation and creates new barriers between the public and the ballot box.

Many people don’t seem to know about the new rules.

The Electoral Reform Society reported on polling that found 60 per cent of voters don’t know they won’t be able to vote in May’s elections if they don’t have one of the government’s ‘valid’ forms of photo ID.

If you don’t have any valid ID, you must apply for a Voter Authority Certificate online or you will be turned away.

This whole plan seems ill-thought-out and destined to be a disaster. We should cancel it before it is too late.

Yours sincerely,

Steve Rouse,

Woodland View,

Wroughton

Incinerator will be bad for health

The Inspector's go-ahead for Westbury Incinerator will be an environmental disaster lasting some 25 years.

Even when the 75 metre high chimney stops spewing it's pollution it will be affecting local people's health.

Also the vehicles delivering the 243,000 tonnes of waste to the Incinerator will clog our roads and our lungs.

It is well documented that pollution lowers human resistance to diseases and can kill but the good news for NREL is that it will be difficult to identify their guilt.

The Inspector must not have missed the fact that Wiltshire Council initially voted in favour of the Incinerator and only recently changed their tune - this could have weakened the case against.

Wiltshire Council also recently lost an appeal for houses on good agricultural land - the Inspector said WC did not have a proper plan for Wiltshire housing in place.

The two cases suggest to me that WC have considerable problems with planning and I suggest they are not fit for purpose.

Similarly the Environment Agency has not been helpful in assuring the safety of local people.

It should be completely independent rather than a government agency.

WC's status has been good on the environment due to solar farms.

But the Incinerator will negate this by its contribution to global warming.

I remain hopeful that the Incinerator can be stopped simply because it makes no environmental sense whatsoever.

Now we have a decent, able PM he may listen to our MP who has opposed this proposal tooth and nail.

Perhaps there will be a change of government which looks at the report by the all-party environment committee findings stating that there should be no new incinerators on the grounds of pollution.

Finally perhaps environmental groups will focus on our struggle in Westbury to fight for environmental common sense - XR have already supported the campaign.

Westbury you have fought magnificently and I for one am proud of your Town Council, hiring a KC to assist in the fight and the wonderful banners.

You deserve so much better.

Sincerely,

Bob Lee,

Petticoat Lane,

Dilton Marsh

Big thank-you for our fashion show

Devizes Lions Club (CIO) are pleased to announce that the net proceeds from the Fashion Show held on Saturday February 25 2023 at the Conservative Club in Devizes comfortably made £1,500, which Devizes Lions will share with Dorothy House.

We thank our hosts, Travelling Trends for staging the event, our “volunteer” models and all of you that bought tickets and came along to enjoy the evening and make it such a success.

THANK YOU!

Lion Dora Kan,

Devizes