I find it deeply shocking that Lib Dems, locally and nationally, consider themselves 'green', yet support the mad industrialisation of Devon and Cornwall by Labour who intend to cover our beautiful counties in numerous wind farms, millions of solar panels, giant storage units and miles and miles of pylons, almost all of it manufactured in China in some of its 2,000 coal-fired furnaces and all of which will then have to be shipped thousands of miles back here so that we can continue paying the highest price for electricity in the world to pretend that we are zero carbon.

Not only that, China and India will be supplying the bulk of millions of tons of cement that will be required to anchor these structures into the ground, a process which also produces huge amounts of carbon.

How any responsible leadership can pretend this is 'green' is unbelievable.

The other myths being constantly put out, are that  wind turbines are recyclable, (only partially, much of it goes into landfill or storage), and that solar farms do not degrade the soil (they do, completely over a period of a 20 years).  

Perhaps Lib Dems and Labour could also explain why they support the need for thousands of houses in our counties when there's no mention of  new sewage treatment works to cope with the influx of people, and no mention of how the demand on water will be met.

Green is good, but not in this destructive, expensive,  un-green way.

J. Brook

Kingsbridge

Recently I had a serious accident which resulted in an operation and short stay in hospital. Fortunately I am only temporarily disabled but I am currently using a walking frame to get around Dartmouth and have discovered how incredibly difficult this is.

Apart from the usual hazards of sign boards outside almost every shop and the car and van drivers who persist in parking with two wheels on the pavement, the road surfaces and pavements themselves are frankly dangerous.

Paving stones are cracked, loose, or uneven; road surfaces are often a patchwork where different contractors have effected repairs but failed to make the surfaces flush.

Frankly our town is full of trip hazards and seems to me to be extremely dangerous in places. I wonder if any of our town, district and county councillors would be willing to look at this problem.

David Gent

Dartmouth

I couldn't agree more with Jill Barber's letter in The Gazette of the 17th April regarding the new SHDC car parking charges. On Saturday 12th April I drove into the car park at the top of Fore Street, Kingsbridge, and wondered why it was almost deserted. The reason became clear when I saw the new parking charges.

SHDC have slashed the 50p for half an hour charge and put up the price for one hour to £1.50. This car park used to be absolutely packed with cars every day of the week with motorists happy to pay 50p for half an hour and grateful for three hours for £1.

These charges enabled shoppers to pop to the local shops, visitors leisurely to browse them and locals working in the town to park economically. In one fell, short-sighted decision, SHDC have disadvantaged the businesses in our town centres and discouraged the use of the car parks.

The much-vaunted discount for local residents, costing £5 for registration, not only penalises people who don't have a smartphone, but is useless in giving an extra half-hour to shoppers who only wanted half an hour in the first place.

Christine East

Kingsbridge

I spent today in your town and I thought so much about it was absolutely lovely. I'll definitely be back to south Devon but I won't be back to Totnes town because of the awful high street. We walked up it twice (my adult friend and I, carrying my two year old daughter).

The independent businesses and market were lovely but the traffic made it into a really unpleasant ordeal, constantly having to squeeze onto crowded pavements because someone wanted to drive their car or van up the road. It felt nonsensical, dangerous, frustrating, and even more so because it seems so unnecessary.

Surely the planet, individuals' health and wellbeing, safety and just a please environment should be more important than a few hundred metres of through road? I tried really hard but genuinely cannot work out what the argument in favour of keeping the road open to all traffic, on a busy Saturday during school holidays, could possibly be.

Please do something about it!

Kate

Via Email

What another great week for Labour and the Change they promised Britain.

First, we saw £200m invested to recruit 3,000 neighbourhood police and PCSOs in the next year which will put 13,000 bobbies back on the beat. Second, £38 million was provided to roll out 319 new zero emission buses across England.

Third, we had the announcement that a new world class Universal theme park is coming to Bedford. Thus boosting our economy by an estimated £50 billion and creating 28,000 jobs.

Fourth, Labour backed the British car industry in the face of global economic headwinds. This was on top of the £2.3bn to boost car manufacturing recently. Fifth, it was confirmed that 1,503 GPs have been recruited since October 1.

Sixth, we saw Labour publicly back the South Yorkshire Mayor's plan to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

Seventh, we had the announcement that more than 100,000 extra patients have been treated on time, 80,000 more people have had cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days, and that NHS waiting lists have fallen for six months in a row.

And eighth, not only did our Labour Government host the second meeting of the Steel Council with a commitment to British steelmaking including energy cost relief for businesses expected to be worth over £300m in 2025 but we also saw the government pass emergency legislation to give the Business Secretary the power and control necessary to do everything possible to protect the steel industry and steel jobs.

Promises made by Labour and yet again Promises Kept.

Geoffrey Brooking

Via Email

I refer to the letter 17th February from Geoffrey Brooking in particular the 1000 flood defence projects announced by the government to protect 66,500 properties.

Regrettably this does not include the flood/breach defence of the A379 Slapton Line.

The efforts of the previous MP in Totnes constituency, Anthony Mangnall, to move this forward at pace has stagnated following the general election last July.

However, the attached report outlines a £30m investment to protect Blackpool beach in the north. Once again the South West misses out.

It is estimated that over 4000 residents in the South Hams between Dartmouth and Kingsbridge will be significantly affected if the A379 Slapton Line is breached and lost.

Anyone travelling this route will know why protection is vital to the economy and well-being of everyone living and visiting the area. There is a petition in place for government funding to protect this site.

Please follow this link for those of you who have not yet signed. https://chng.it/2PXYZfJFNV

Ralph Clark - Strete

Via Email