Shrewsbury Town – A Team to be Proud Of
The news about Portsmouth FC going into administration has saddened all true football supporters. To crash from FA Cup winners to this state in a few short years is awful for their fans. With Crystal Palace also suffering the same fate it shows the financial rot in football is reaching higher up the leagues than ever before.
All this should make us even more proud of the achievements of the board, staff, players and fans of Shrewsbury Town FC. Under the leadership of Roland Wycherley and his team, Shrewsbury has one of the most financially sound clubs in the land. To build a fine new stadium, and be able to consistently challenge for promotion with two visits to Wembley at the same time is a great record. To able to do that while other clubs with far bigger fan bases fall into financial turmoil shows the scope of what Roland and his team have achieved.
STFC are well placed for the final run in to this season, and I’m sure they will do us all the greatest credit as they push towards the goal of automatic promotion.
FOX HUNTING-THE UGLY PICTURE
I was very disturbed to see the article in the Shropshire Star of 16 February, about the incident concerning the South Shropshire Hunt at Cruckton, near Shrewsbury.
The hounds, whilst supposed to be on a drag hunt, came onto private property and ripped apart a fox in the back garden of a local resident. Otis Ferry, joint huntmaster, said they had temporarily lost control of the hounds. The lady owner of the land had previously repeatedly warned the hunt not to enter her private land. This incident must have been extremely distressing for that lady, whose horses and pet cat were understandably terrified.
This unpleasant incident illustrates only too well the real practical problems hunting creates for us in Shropshire. This lady had every right, as all residents of country areas have, to quietly enjoy their property without such horrible acts as this being carried out on their land against their express wishes.
But it is not an isolated incident. A few years back the hunt got into the gardens of several houses in Condover village and caused chaos. A local resident recently found the A41-a main Shropshire Trunk Road blocked by the hunt at Tern Hill with all the resulting danger to other road users.
My question is, if a group of other outdoor pastime enthusiasts such as anglers, or rugby players, turned up in a private garden and killed a wild animal, the outcry would rightly be massive. So why are the hunting lobby allowed to do this infringing private property rights with apparent impunity?
The Police have said no laws were broken at Cruckton, and the incident just amounted to “Trespass”. I doubt the unfortunate lady landowner thought that.
Our MP Daniel Kawczynski went on record on Radio Shropshire to categorically state he would support a vote to reverse Labour’s ban on hunting with dogs.
I would ask him does he still support the pro-hunting lobby when they show such disregard for private property rights? Does he not agree that people who have worked hard to buy country property and land, and who do not wish the hunt to come across it, should have the total right to have that wish fully respected?
If the hunt were engaged in a drag hunt, why didn’t they plan a route well away from this lady’s land?
Meet the Voters 13th+14th Feb 2010
by jontandy on February 12, 2010
in Election, Labour Party, Parliamentary, Personal
Liz, Steve and I will be out campaigning this weekend and hope that you might be able to join us!
We will be meeting this Saturday 13th at 11am at frankwell carpark by the suspension bridge.
On Sunday 14th we will be out meeting the lovely voters campaigning from 11am meeting at the Onslow pub car park gains park.
We would be delighted if you were able to spare an hour or two. Please do text Jon on 07800 589 074 if you can make it!
Thanks
- Jon Tandy
Scaremongering Over Clinic is Totally Wrong
I read with interest the very detailed and very long letter from Lib Dem Dr Charles West in the 21st January Chronicle. Of course it is vital to debate the best approach to local health provision, Dr West appears to think a solely GP led primary care service is best. The NHS considered a mix of provision better, as not everyone can, or wants to, access all their health care just via their local GP.
But what I feel is wrong and very unhelpful is the scaremongering content of his letter. He tries to link his opposition to the new Shropshire Walk-In Health Centre in Monkmoor, to a tragic patient death in Cambridgeshire involving a German doctor. Of course even one death due to a doctor’s medical error is too many, but this is sadly not the first such case.
The NHS has employed lots of foreign doctors for many years, and indeed relies on these professionals to provide the service in many areas. However this tragic case has nothing to do with the new Shropshire Walk-In Health Centre, and in my opinion it is very wrong to needlessly scare local residents in this way just because he opposes this new facility.
The NHS as we all know has many competing demands on its finances. Nurses and front line support staff directly employed by the NHS work long hours for relatively low pay.
What many people do not appreciate is that GPs are not directly employed by the NHS. They are in fact self employed, paid under a medical services contract with the NHS, providing in many cases their own surgery premises for which they claim property costs reimbursement from the NHS. Therefore the NHS must carefully balance requests from GPs against other priorities in the system.
However, where the system could be tightened up considerably is to investigate the use of outside advisors, on non-medical matters, who often charge very high fees to the NHS.
Fees and charges for such people as management consultants and IT consultants, who can charge up to £100 per hour, are a heavy cost to bear for the NHS.
Severe Weather Helping Others
We have been experiencing severe weather that has been leaving parts of the country colder than the south pole and although the weather has been a little more clement but there are predictions of more cold weather to come; I believe that it is especially important in these conditions to make sure that any vulnerable people that we know such as the elderly or disabled are safe and well.
The weather has also caused problems with people unable to get their grocery shopping, prescriptions etc and I personally have helped by collecting much needed items for those unable to do so themselves due to the hazadous weather conditions.
I would ask everybody who has a vulnerable friend, neighbour or family member to check in on them on a regular basis and do whatever you can to make sure that they have everything they need.
Something as small as picking up a carton of milk or loaf of bread for someone on your next trip to the supermarket can make all of the difference.
The recent events in the town have already proven the amazing community spirit that exists in Shrewsbury and I am certainly proud to be part of a community that looks out for each other and knows that the simplest thing can make a big difference in someones life.
