February 8, 2006
I FULLY support Camp Bling, Shaun Qureshi and his friends have been very vocal about the road widening at Priory Park, Southend.
I really admire them and wish I could be there, unfortunately disability unables me.
What really gets my goat is Irene Willis, the local green campaigner. Usually vocal in these letter pages, I cannot recall her writing about Camp Bling.
However, in the Echo (Jan 24) there she is, posing for the camera in chains no less!
May I suggest that the Echo reports the news without "wanna be" people hogging the limelight?
Come back at me Ms Willis if you will, chains, padlocks et al. The real campaigners at Camp Bling are there for the long haul, not just a photo opportunity.
LINDA COTTEE
Ronald Park Avenue
Westcliff
...I WOULD like to thank the Echo for covering the story of the latest Priory Park protest, of which I was a small part.
However, protests do not come cheap and we have to fund most of this ourselves, albeit we have had very generous support from Southend.
Southend Council leader Anna Waite criticises us for thwarting democracy. Sixteen people supported the road and 20,000 expressed opposition to the scheme. When Parklife run a stall in the High Street people flocked to the stall to offer support. Believe me that does not happen very often.
The sad part of this is that the decision will not be made about the morality of concreting over an archaeological site, or the views of Southend people or the loss of open space given to the town or disrupting our favourite park.
No, the decision will depend on money.
IRENE WILLIS
South East Essex Green Party
The Parkway, Canvey
...IT IS right that the protest by Camp Bling was given prominence in the Echo because it is a very important local issue that is fighting a fundamental battle between those who value our past history and dread the future that the building of more and more roads will bring and those can only give thought to the here and now.
This battle also highlights the lack of democracy in local and government decision making.
How ironic that Anna Waite refers to democracy as it is only a small handful of councillors in the cabinet who make the decisions, while 20,000 signatures against the road counted for nothing.
Unlike the council which can spend £30,000 of our money on their campaigns the Camp Blingers are of limited means.
The Echo editorial inferred that the road widening would help the traffic jams whereas local people know it will merely bring them to queue at the next juncion fractionally earlier if at all!
SHEENA WALKER
Buckland
Shoebury