News

Dear Editor,

Re: A Dungeness nuclear leak would affect half of northern Europe

Jobe's Comforter, is this chap?

What about all the other Nuclear power stations throughout Europe?

Our national electricity grid is linked to France, where they have little problem coming to terms with modern life.

Climate change, because they do. Get used to it.

Nuclear power ? Yes please!

Fink I'll go and get some other sort of hemp and enjoy a lickle herbal life!

Finkle

Dear Editor,

Re: Shepway could have new nuclear power station on its doorstep

I am sorry but asking just those living in the Romney Marsh community is not good enough.

If that nuclear station leaks it would affect half of northern Europe! Why do they still try to sell us this dead parrot?

And do not listen to people like Sir David King and their propaganda for increasing support for nuclear power in the UK?

He also thinks that that traditionally farmed food is no safer than chemically-treated food. Ask that to anyone effected by chemical warfare.

I believe he is telling porkier pies about traditional farming causing more CO2 than chemical farming. Using pollutant chemicals that damage the soil and cause acid rain is not safer. It's highly debatable that CO2 is the cause of climate change. But no debate is needed to prove that acid rain and cancers are caused by fossil chemical fuels and fertilisers.

Demand biomass energy made from hemp-seed oils. The same stuff used for thousands of years. Go read a book!

Gary Hall

Dear Editor,

Re: Bound to upset many of you but that's the nature of the job

The idea of a permanent site for 500 lorries and 2000 at Stack times, is just not on.

Siting it on a green field site will more than double the 1,325 population of Sellindge on the A20.

And the Anaerobic Digester at the other end of the village which is proposed to be built across the road from a thriving cafe which has recently been extended will increase the amount of TIR's on the already overused and breaking up A20 by over 160 large lorries per day.

It is not the place to have all the South East Kent rubbish processed with all the noise, pollution, and danger to the natural water flow in that area.

The Stack problem can be sorted by the movable barrier which is a much better idea.

Once our countryside is covered with concrete that is it and the wildlife have lost out again. We all live on the same planet and this is supposed to be the Garden of England.

M J Ludlow

Dear Editor and Gary,

Re: Oil pollution fear for wildlife and beaches

It is the responsibility of the polluter (through his P&I Club, one of the insurers) to pay.

It is a maritime legal requirement to have this type of insurance in place.

Regards,

Lazarus

Dear Editor,

Re: Oil pollution fear for wildlife and beaches

I read that the cargo washed up here is owned by a salvage company. Are they going to clean up all the oil as well? Or can we claim salvage rights and take it for ourselves.

Has anyone spoken to the oil companies for compensation for damages against the sea, the beach, the wildlife and the tourist and fishing industries. (looks like reduced quotas for fish for us next year.)

No wonder the price of fish is going through the roof!

Also compensation for the loss of the lives of birds and fish, and jobs and the money we spend of cleaning up their mess.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6274625.stm


Gary Hall

Dear Editor,

Re: Less concern over a new nuclear power plant than an expanded airport?

Quote: 'It provides decent jobs that local people want to do. If they build a new airport, most of the jobs would probably be done by immigrants working for the minimum wage.'

Yeah I agree with this, but not totally. But it depends on a change of the type of power plant you describe with the word 'it'. Change this to a renewable power plant and I agree totally.

Quote: "Management Today reports a spokesman for Shepway District Council agreeing that many residents are relaxed about their nuclear neighbour. 'It's been there for years and there's never been a serious incident. People see it as a benign presence.'"

Have they all gone mad!

"Japan's killer earthquake left its biggest nuclear power company facing financial losses, supply questions, and demands for greater safety. "

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/tags/nuclear-accidents

Never heard of the Folkestone Earthquake? I know not as Big as In Japan. I heard the quake on the 26th of Feb also effected here too. Sounds far too dangerous to me. Along with the disposal of waste and the recent news about transport of nuclear material.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2275249.stm

And I'm pretty sure there has been accidents at the Dungeness Nuclear Station. Peoples memories must be bad around here. Must be something in the water. There was one on 27th September 2007. Thank god no radioactive material was released in the incident.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/6987957.stm


Gary Hall

Oil leaking from the Ice Prince, the vessel loaded with timber which sunk last month off Portland Bill in Dorset may have reached the coast of south east Kent.

Already a number of large planks have been spotted floating off the coast and washed ashore on Shepway and Dover beaches.

And at the weekend oil slicks were reported by Walmer lifeboat crew while on a training exercise.

An air search was begun in Sunday afternoon (17 February) to find the extent of the oil which is said to have affected a number of sea birds. Reports of small patches of tar on east coast beaches would suggest there is as yet, no major threat of widespread pollution.

Deal and Folkestone Coastguard teams have continued searching for further traces of oil along the coast.

A Dover Coastguard spokesman said it is too early to identify the source of the spilled oil..

People are being asked to help in a crack down on the dumping of asbestos in country lanes and dykes.

Shepway District Council is focussing on the Dymchurch, Romney Marsh area where it believes it is being dumped by rogue traders.

Residents are being asked to be extra vigilant, especially keeping a look out for vans and lorries at night.

Cllr Rory Love, Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “We believe this might be coming from outside the district. Whoever is doing this is choosing quiet areas where there is least chance of being seen. We would ask people to be extra vigilant and to try and get the registration number and description of the vehicle and a description of anyone they think might be involved providing it is safe for them to do it.”

The crackdown comes after a recent spate of dumping at various points on Romney Marsh. The council’s advice to anyone who spots dumped asbestos is:

• Don’t touch it. Asbestos cement is a hazard only when it is moved or broken.
• Report it to the council’s street scene customer services team on 01303 858660 giving a precise location.

Providing it is not on private land, the council will arrange for it to be removed. Twenty locations across Romney Marsh have already been cleared and the council hopes to get the remaining asbestos removed by the end of the week. The council is working closely with the Environment Agency to have the asbestos dumped in a waterway off St Mary’s Road, between St Mary in the Marsh and Dymchurch, removed.

“People can also play their part in tackling the problem of illegally dumped asbestos or any other material by making sure that any company they use to carry out building or clearance work has a waste carrier licence and waste transfer notes detailing the type of waste, where it is being taken from and where it is being disposed of,” said Cllr Love.

Dear Editor,

Re: Garden recycling fiasco

Having read the letters received about the charges for 'green' waste, I see that if no contact is made by April then it will be assumed that we don't want the service.

So I'll just continue to use my bin until it is taken away. What then?

Garden waste can go in my normal bin. Some of it will be burned (and many friends and neighbours state that they will take to burning their garden waste too - so prepare for the clouds of smoke everyone!), and excess I'll take to the tip myself. Until we all start getting charged to make deposits at the tip.

That's the next thing on the agenda.

Mark my words.

Gill

Shepway residents are being asked to fork out extra cash to have their garden waste bin emptied and new subscribers to the service will also have to dig deep in their pockets to stump up £18 for their brown top bin.

The controversial charge for collecting garden waste will begin in April, after Shepway District Council's cabinet agreed the measures.

Householders signing up to the scheme will pay £35 a year plus the cost of the brown-topped bin although people already using the system are to be offered a discount for the first year, paying £25 if they sign up before March 1.

Residents deciding to dump the fortnightly collection can opt out and return their bin to the council.

Cllr Rory Love, cabinet member for the environment, reportedly said the fee was necessary if the collection scheme was to survive.

Garden waste is collected in two lorries reaching the end of their useful lives. To buy new ones would cost £250,000, while leasing would cost about £48,000 a year.