'Much Wenlock urged to fight 'horrendous' housing plan' - your letters, plus a silent snapshot of mining life near the end

Pledge to fight homes plan

Having been turned away in their attempt to swamp Shifnal with 900 new dwellings, Boningdale Homes have turned their attention to the smaller town of Much Wenlock, where their application to build 300 houses will increase the housing stock in this beautiful little town by over one third!

Boningdale has, of course, ignored the fact that their proposal is contrary to Shropshire Council’s current and Draft Local Plans; even worse, they have ignored the wishes of local people by being completely non-compliant with the democratically-produced Much Wenlock Neighbourhood Plan and likewise the emerging Neighbourhood Plan.

The application totally ignores the impact that their traffic will have on the well-known congestion hotspot at the Gaskell Arms corner, even though they propose to build only a short distance away on the A458.

May I urge the good people of Wenlock and the Town Council and Shropshire Council to come out and defend the town by objecting to this application by every means possible. Together, like Shifnal, we can defeat this horrendous proposal.

DM Jones, Much Wenlock

Hat’s off to new knowledge

The Shropshire Star answered a question that has puzzled Uncle Norbert and I for ages; just what is the difference between the High Sheriff and the Lord-Lieutenant of the county? This was answered by a photo in the Star of 4/2, page 15; the High Sheriff gets to wear a big hat.

Peter Steggles, Rushbury

A great museum in all weathers

Another rainy day ‘forced’ our family to RAF Cosford. I’d forgotten what a wonderful museum it is. Please, everyone, pay a visit.

Scott Howe, Bridgnorth

Where has that man gone?

​Whatever happened to the bloke in the vest, with his Daily Mirror and his cigarettes,

Sat at the table, regaling his wife with chapter and verse of working class life?

The cribbage player, the domino knocker who’d tip you a wink and say ‘how yer doin cocker?’

A bit of a whistle, a rub of the hands, a sciatic wince as he stands.

Where has he gone, the firm hand-shaker who made the world seem just a little bit safer,

Who seemed to be a font of common sense. They called it ‘experience’.

Where has he gone? 

Well now I see.

He’s been replaced by blokes like me,

Who grew up thinking we were smarter than ‘That daft old man’

Alan Jones, Midlands

Alternative for donated tools

John Riley who is retiring from TfSR (Letters, February 5) is not aware of an alternative charity.

Google "Tools with a Mission" for a charity that collects tools, refurbishes them and sends them to Africa. They took all my late father's extensive collection.

Graham Elvis, Norton Canes

Delays in getting new blue badge

I am extremely concerned about the delay in renewing a Blue Badge in Shropshire. I have held one for several years and have not had a problem renewing it. It seems they changed the system three years ago and I was told that it now takes 12 weeks to process a renewal. I applied over 12 weeks ago and as of today they cannot give me any indication when it will be processed.

I currently have multiple ailments including having to wear a 'crow-walker', heart problems and pancreatic cancer. The crow walker is large and rigid covering my foot and calf making it impossible for me to enter or exit the car if a car is parked next to me in a standard parking place I need the car door to open fully.

Is it my fault that the council cannot budget? I am being told I am the one that has to suffer because of their incompetence. If I lived in Wolverhampton I could get a blue badge in about two weeks, in Shropshire we have to wait three months plus!

I love Shropshire but bureaucracy is making it increasingly difficult. I now have to travel to Stoke for treatment for my cancer, a round trip of over 100 miles even for a simple blood test! Simply because the cancer cannot be treated at the RSH.

I would love to see a campaign to try and rectify some of these matters.

Mike Mortimer, Pontesbury

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