Readers' letters from Tuesday 27 Jan 2009

Now listen to my music!

THIS is a message to all those people (mostly teenage girls) who insist on sharing their rubbish taste in r&b hip hop with all the passengers on the 216 bus route every day, via their mobile phones. If you must listen to what sounds to the rest of us like foul-mouthed wasps trying to get out of a jar, then why don’t you also strap a satellite dish to your back, don a polyester shellsuit and fake Burberry cap, half a dozen cheap gold earrings and a naff tattoo and achieve your goal of being a total chav? One day, when you’re an old bint like me, you’ll say to yourself ‘what was I thinking?’Meanwhile, I’m seriously thinking of buying a mouth organ so I can listen to my own music instead. I wonder if other passengers would appreciate my taste in music?

Put old heads on young shoulders, Manchester

Lousy service

WHEN is something going to be done about FirstManchester and their monopoly on services in north Manchester? In December I complained about the unfair £5 charge levied on services during New Year’s Eve which applied to regular travellers with monthly and yearly tickets. Now, with the recent 10 per cent price rise on First monthly tickets on January 2 to £55, perhaps it is time for a large-scale boycott of their services or for GMPTE to actually do something useful and intervene on behalf of long suffering bus passengers in Manchester.How First can justify this recent price increase is beyond me. First have argued that they have invested millions on new buses, yet they still operate what I think is some of the oldest and most polluting fleet in the whole of Manchester. Their new buses are getting to be a disgrace already, with rubbish piled high on services, even first thing in the morning. The maintenence of the vehicles also leaves a lot to be desired, with rattling suspensions and breakdowns. Stagecoach, a company of a similar size, only charges £36 for a monthly ticket. Arriva charges £10 a week. Both these companies manage to offer their passengers a clean and cheaper environment on which to travel to and from work. So why can’t First?

John Hayler, Blackley

Tram trauma

I READ Metrolink director Philip Purdy’s letter (Postbag, January 20). I can’t believe that he is talking about the same Metrolink service that I use regularly between Eccles and Manchester on weekdays. I would love to see some of the ‘benefits of investment’ that he talks about, as this line seems to be the poor relation of the network. I read his letter after waiting 30 minutes in the evening rush hour at Piccadilly for a tram which eventually terminated at Weaste, because ‘for operational reasons’ the service was returning to Piccadilly, forcing us all to wait for the next tram. I have lost count of the number of times that this ruse of ‘returning to Manchester’ from Weaste is used.If they cannot run the service now, they have no chance with an extended network and with the new Media City being ‘served’ by them, I wonder what the likes of the BBC will make of it.At least they will be able to report on it.

Les Robinson, Eccles

Capital bias

FOLLOWING recent letters regarding the government’s announcment of a commitment to build a third runway at Heathrow, I have to ask if your readers agree with me and feel totally betrayed at the money being invested in the capital.Here are some facts. A proposed £26bn for Crossrail, another £9bn at least for the third runway, £2bn for extension of the Docklands Light Railway, don’t forget the Wembley fiasco (£1bn) and of course the Dome (another £1bn).Never forget that this recession was started by the greedy banks, mostly based in London and it is not going to end soon.What should end soon though is the perverted way that the Labour government administers the allocation of investment money.Given that the people of Greater Manchester have had to endure the prospect of a ‘small loan’ of £3bn, is it any wonder we are not happy with the way things are run? 

Steve Rudman, Greater Manchester

Let the people speak

THE government wants more people making decisions within their community. Government and local politicians must nurture this to give people the confidence that they can make a difference. Otherwise people feel powerless. Here is an example of how the community’s voice could at last be heard. I see that many in Saddleworth want to revert to Yorkshire, which today would mean local unitary government from Kirklees metropolitan district council. I am also aware from my friends in Manchester that many people in Failsworth would prefer to be part of the city of Manchester.  The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 provides for the Boundary Committee for England to review electoral boundaries on their own initiative. Therefore, residents of both Saddleworth and Failsworth can now write to the Boundary Committee asking it to consider holding a referendum to see if local residents wish to stay in Oldham metropolitan borough council’s area or go over to Kirklees council and Manchester city council respectively. Their address is Trevelyan House, Great Peter Street, London, SW1P 2HW.People were not given the opportunity to vote on Greater Manchester’s set-up as determined by the Local Government Act 1972. Now, 37 years on there is a great opportunity for members of the community to have their say. People who wish to transfer to another local authority could organise residents’ groups and get the support of their MP. I worked for South Yorkshire county council and remember when Prime Minister Thatcher ordered it scrapped without a referendum or any public consultation. Former deputy prime minister Prescott refused the request of Rossendale to merge with Bury and of Whitworth becoming part of Rochdale. Governments have been undemocratic over local government boundaries, but now there is an opportunity for change. Give people the vote.

Joan Blencowe, Huddersfield