Stop whining
I THINK Mr Quayle (Hereford Times, August 25th) must be living in a parallel universe to the rest of us. 
The pound has indeed fallen in value since the referendum but this has already increased the export order book and the bookings from overseas holidaymakers. 
These are two huge parts of our economy which have a direct bearing on balancing the books.
Also, one of the largest house builders has seen a soaring demand for homes and high-street spending has surged. 
Countries outside the EU are competing to be the first to sign a trade deal with us. Early days I know, but everything is going in the right direction. 
The EU has always needed the UK more than the UK has needed the EU thereby ensuring mutual trade between our countries. So where is all the doom and gloom? 
As for suggesting that Parliament could ignore the result of the referendum, that smacks of a totalitarian state. 
Looking at the voting, if the metropolitan areas which have a majority of immigrants are excluded alongside Scotland and Northern Ireland, who had their own agendas, it is obvious that the indigenous population voted overwhelmingly for leaving, including Herefordshire.
A democracy has to accept the wish of the majority of voters whether or not we, as individuals, agree or disagree with it. Forty years ago millions of us lost the referendum vote but we accepted the result without rancour. I suggest those Remainers questioning the result of this latest referendum should follow the lead of our new prime minister. 
You lost, so stop whining, man up and move on.
Derrick Brown
Fownhope


Rubbish talk
I MUST contest the letter by Ian Quail, Thursday 26th August 26, he talks a load of rubbish, in relation to the UK’s health.
The trading figures are up, the exports are up, so what if the pound has gone slightly down, if Ian remembers, during the crash, the pound went down further than it has now, it has recovered well, output is up.
I can’t understand why he and his kind say that because the difference in the ‘out’ vote and the ‘in’ vote was so small, there should be another referendum, let me ask him this, apart from tearing our country apart, if the pass mark for an exam is 85 per cent, will he demand a recount if he only achieved 84 per cent, and failed?
It is rubbish to say that because it does not suit him, everyone else is wrong. We can still trade with the EU because they have said they still wish to do so.
He goes on about no proper talks about the EU crisis with the leave voters, what about the absolute rubbish mouthed by the ones who wanted to stay in?
james stevenson
Kingstone


Editor plea
AM I THE only reader interested in public opinion who recoils in horror each week upon reading the letters page? 
I refer of course to the alarm and despondency reflected in contributions made – I assume in good faith – by readers dismayed by the EU referendum result. One can only conclude that many people are either staggeringly misinformed or just arrived from the Planet Zog!
During the pre-referendum period; in the Hereford Times, both our county’s MPs took pains to explain the key issues involved, at times expressing personal views but always clearly argued.
Surely now is the time for the editor to invite these same MPs, both from the governing party, to feature weekly in a shared column which addresses readers’ concerns, however bizarre, articulated in the previous week’s edition; and as a duty to us all, render more light than heat on the the Brexit process as it evolves in the months ahead.
Hugh Vernon
Eardisland


Spell it out
REGARDING the Havana ‘contraband coffee’ story, my brother has experienced similar obstruction to Alex Hoyle (Hereford Times 1/9/16) by the US authorities. 
He has a business in Havannah, Vanuatu in the south Pacific. Our American cousins are not the brightest when it comes to spelling and geography! 
Incidentally, Vanuatu is under severe attack by the OECD because they have a custom-based economy on some islands where they use boar tusks, shells and mats as currency. It is impossible to operate a western style tax and regulatory system as ordered to do by the OECD.
David Delaney, 
Byton.


Stop bus cuts
THE letter from Ms Banks concerning the threat to rural bus services rings true throughout the county. She is one of thousands to be disadvantaged if Herefordshire Council’s plan to cut financial support to country bus services goes ahead. 
The plan will leave just up to six bus services remaining in the county. The last round of cuts threw up many examples of increased rural isolation and deprivation affecting those sectors of the community who cannot rely on access to, or afford a car. 
Examples were young people from Kington having to give up their jobs in Leominster when the bus service between the two towns was withdrawn; shift workers in Hereford being unable to keep their jobs when the evening bus service to/from Ledbury was withdrawn; various elderly people unable to visit friends and struggling with weekly shopping and necessary visits to doctors surgeries that are increasingly concentrated in the towns.
Commercial bus services between the market towns and Hereford are not safe either. Neither are the Hereford city services. 
The withdrawal of country bus services has a knock-on effect on an operator’s overall business. Already DRMBus has rationalised the Hereford-Bromyard-Worcester service as pointed out by Ms Banks and at the same time has increased fares by a massive 25 per cent to combat the loss in finance from Herefordshire Council.
It is likely that services to Ross-on-Wye, Leominster, Kington and Ledbury will also suffer reduced frequencies in the not too distant future.
The implications of the council’s policy on bus service support has very far reaching consequences. And the saving to the council, a paltry sum of 0.5 per cent of total budget.
The local bus is the last public service to be provided in rural areas. Local shops and post offices have gone, the pubs are quickly going and I dare say local postal deliveries and collections will be next as the post is concentrated at collection points in the towns. 
The local bus is more than just a bus service, it is a vehicle of social interaction where people meet and talk. 
It also helps the elderly and the young maintain their independence. Take this independence away and a greater burden is thrown onto the social services and health authorities while the young are forced to move to the towns and cities, creating a population imbalance in the villages.
Rail & Bus for Herefordshire has mounted a campaign to alert people to the threat and the drastic situation which rural bus service cuts will create. 
You are urged to write to your local councillor, your MP and spread the alarming news around. Action is needed now before the budget is set, otherwise 2017 could well be the apocalypse for Herefordshire bus services.
Gareth Calan Davies
Chairman Rail & Bus for Herefordshire


I let you down
I WANT to apologise to those who voted for me for Ledbury Town Council, May 2015. 
I resigned on 21 July 21 and feel I have let you down. I cannot continue to serve you when there have been so many instances of bigotry, racism and injustice demonstrated. Two recent examples follow.
I could not sit by while a democratic vote to act fairly in matters regarding grievance procedures was ignored. Eight months has passed since this occurred and despite my numerous efforts this has never been revisited. 
I was also unable to accept the blocking of a motion that Ledbury welcome and respect people of all backgrounds. Hate speech has no place in Ledbury.
Time, effort and energy were put in to try and help resolve internal issues and understand the bitterness but it became clear my efforts were to no avail. I believe the matters above are fundamental. 
These inappropriate, undemocratic practices go against established guidelines for councils locally and nationally.
If you don’t know of my resignation, it is because it is buried and filed inappropriately under ‘general correspondence’. Having checked the boundaries of confidentiality, if you wish to contact me please do so at: mmackness4ledbury@gmail.com.
Maria Mackness
Ex-councillor Ledbury


Vanity tram
DIRTY, litter-strewn streets; weedy, neglected and unkempt verges and flower borders; a wide range of empty business premises; decaying and decreasing services and infrastructure, exemplified by the bus terminal at Tesco’s and the still-closed public library building in Broad Street; a burgeoning financial deficit running to many tens if not hundreds of millions of pounds: this is the proud record of Hereford and Herefordshire councils.
Undaunted, the councils cling obsessively to the plan for the Western Bypass, a road that few people want and those that do (apart from the council) want to the east of the city where it can best serve the city’s social and economic infrastructure needs, a road that has not been realistically costed and which will undoubtedly take far longer and cost far more to achieve than the estimates suggest (typical of virtually all such projects).
We now have the city tram plan (Hereford Times, 1September 1, 2016). 
It has already been rejected once as being too costly, although Mr Davies, the chairman of Rail and Bus for Herefordshire, says that it is still at the costing stage. 
Is it yet another ill-conceived and unaffordable vanity project in the making?
Neil Thompson.
Hereford


Dog danger
WITH reference to the report of 37 sheep savaged on a farm near Leominster. I work as a dog trainer specialising in chase behaviour in dogs. 
Dogs chase and kill sheep because it is perfectly natural behaviour but it is also totally unacceptable behaviour for which dogs can be killed either by justifiable shooting by farmers protecting their stock, or euthanasia to prevent further predation of sheep. 
Dog owners do not realise how addicted dogs can become to chasing sheep, the more they chase the more they want to chase, its like drug addiction in humans. 
Chasing can start as play and develop into killing and even the nicest family pet dog can harm, frighten and even kill sheep. Dog owners are totally responsible for their dogs’ behaviour. 
The short answer to prevention is keep your dog on a lead anywhere near sheep, and if the worst happens take responsibility and tell the farmer so he can tend to his animals .
Sue Harper
Malvern


My disbelief
 I READ Professor Sampson’s to the Hereford Times with growing disbelief. The planning department’s behaviour seems to be becoming more undemocratic and inefficient as time goes by.
Their resolving the application well beyond the statutory eight weeks is a reason for official complaint and since the decision to refuse was only the opinion of an officer and not a matter of planning regulation, Professor Sampson must appeal (which I understand is free). I do not know whether he consulted his local ward councillor or what the views of the parish council were (although these are usually  irrelevant).  From 2001-2003 I was responsible for planning in Hereford as cabinet member for the environment and had been an independent councillor between 1995-2003. 
Regrettably, a few years ago, the council abolished the three area planning committees and now has only the one main  committee and it is also planning policy to resolve 95 per cent of applications by officer decision.
This was essentially a cost-saving move but undemocratic as only one third of councillors sit on the main committee which only considers either major planning applications or very contentious ones. 
Previously all councillors had a say in decisions as they sat on their three local committees. Further undemocratic moves were made when the new Code of Conduct for councillors virtually prevented them from discussing any application with the applicant or objector without an officer being present.
All this has prevented applicants getting a fair hearing – eg  like Prof Sampson.  If a case similar to his had occurred in my ward, I would have visited him to see for myself. 
I would have probably disagreed with the officer’s decision and persuaded my fellow councillors at the area planning meeting that it was purely a matter of opinion and they should vote against refusal.
I could go on but I do not wish to bore and some of my information maybe out of date. I hope this letter is helpful to the professor and others.
Chris Grover
Much Birch
 
Health advice
DID you see the article in one of the national dailies and the importance of eating more fruit and vegetables in our daily diets into diet daily, if we did we could cut or risk of getting diabetes by one third. I wish with all my heart we would take our health more seriously
David Ball
Swansea