Letters to the Editor - September 24th

Sep 24 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

Past should be ever-present

IN RESPONSE to Larry Neild posing the question “Is heritage holding back progress in Liverpool?” I would like to bring to your readers’ attention a specific case where the city’s heritage and its 21st-century development really could and should be able to co-exist constructively.

I was fascinated to see, on Monday this week, television film of the archaeological excavations taking place at Mann Island. Here have been revealed the virtually complete remains of one of Liverpool’s earliest (mid-18th century) enclosed docks and the foundations of its associated Georgian warehouses.

How ironic that these remains are soon to be filled in and concreted over to build the new Museum of Liverpool. Surely such an important part of the city of Liverpool’s commercial history should remain publicly accessible by being incorporated as the centrepiece of the new museum, rather than being obliterated by it?

By way of contrast, the museum designers could look to the truly cultured city of Barcelona, where the remains of a number of Roman and pre-Roman buildings have been incorporated into the city museum in such a way that they are accessible to the public. This respect for and conservation of its heritage in no way compromises Barcelona’s dynamic and progressive international image.

Michael McDonough, of the 21st Century Liverpool Society, summarised the spirit of Liverpool’s early culture thus: “This city is a commercial city, built on ambition, innovation and forward thinking.”

How appropriate it would be to actually exhibit the reality of one of the very first examples of this culture in our city’s new, flagship museum rather than destroy it.

Mr McDonough finished his contribution by stating that “Liverpool’s past has no right to strangle its future.” I would equally contend that Liverpool’s future has no need to obliterate the very essence of its past.

Roger Brown, Hale

Clearing the smoke

RE: ‘COUNCILS enforce ‘no-go’ policy in smokers’ homes’ (Daily Post, September 20).

I write with reference to the above story. As the accrediting organisation for the Mersey Charter,ŠI wish to refute the suggestion of a boycott byŠ local authorities Šof clients’ homes where smoking takes place.

The Charter recognises that, for community staff, visits to clients in their own homes could place them at risk from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. In these circumstances, a client’s home becomes, temporarily, a workplace for staff.

In the spirit of smoke-free legislation, which prohibits all smoking in workplaces in England, organisations with Mersey Charter accreditation will request that a client provide a room which has been smoke-free for a minimum of 30 minutes, as far as is practicable, prior to a planned visit by community staff. If this is not available, alternative arrangements can be made Šat the organisation’s premises.

The Mersey Charter is not about boycotting clients who smoke; it’s about protecting community staff in the course of their work.ŠThe Mersey CharterŠ also stipulates that an organisation provides advice to both staff and clients on smoke free issues and stop smoking services.

I hope this clarifies the situation.

Robin Ireland, Chief Executive, Heart of Mersey

Hospital information

MANY of your readers may know that one in three people will be affected by cancer at some point in their lives.

Residents in this region have access to one of the country’s leading cancer treatment centres – Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology. Based in Wirral, the hospital provides specialist radiotherapy and chemotherapy services, and delivers more than 112,000 treatments to patients every year.

Last summer, the hospital gained Foundation Trust status, which means it has new levels of accountability to the local community. Part of this change has meant the formation of a new Council of Governors, made up of elected representatives from the region. We have been elected to represent the Liverpool area on this Council of Governors.

As governors, we work with the hospital on its strategic plans, enhancing the patient experience, helping with fund-raising and scrutinising finances.

We also want to ensure that services are developed in a way that reflects the needs of local people.

We would be delighted to hear from any group or individual who would like to learn more about Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology and can be contacted on tel: 0151 482 7799, or by emailing andrea.leather@ccotrust.nhs.uk

Mary Doddridge and Reg Cox, Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology Governors, Liverpool area

Party is ‘dead’

YOUR correspondent George E Joynson is correct ( “Blair’s politics”, Letters, September 20 ); the Labour Party is “dead” in the sense that it no longer represents working-class interests as it was originally created so to do by the Trade Union movement.

I would date its dying pains to have commenced immediately following the 1983 election defeat and the selection of Neil Kinnock as leader.

The sickness became terminal in 1994 when the Blairites hijacked the party and accelerated the rightwards shift. The sad state of “the peoples’ party” today is evidenced here in West Derby by the orchestrated removal of socialist Bob Wareing in favour of the Blairite Stephen Twigg to be the candidate at the next General Election.

PR Jones, Wirral

Elder statesman

WHEN I was young, I always respected older people because they had more experience than me. I believed that this experience gave them wisdom. And, in those days, most of our leaders were older.

The ideal was thought to be a young person and an older person working together, youthful zeal tempered by experience. The older person would be in charge with the younger person learning the ropes.

It seemed to be the way that nature had intended. In more recent times, there has been a cult of youth in this country with companies and even political parties ignoring older people.

Yet the over-50s are in a vast majority in this country, while advances in medicine have left many of them fit and strong and wise, though I accept that there are some old fools as well.

But Sir Menzies (Ming) Campbell, leader of the Liberal Democrats, is not one.

Many old people will be delighted to see an elder statesman in charge of one of the three main parties.

The opinion polls might not be showing yet, but I suspect that thousands of the over-50s will vote for him at the next general election because he is a gentleman and one of us.

P Sinclair, Southport

City’s tears

THE rain that greeted the last Liverpool visit of the QE2 evoked memories of an equally iconic ship. The Manxman, the last of the classic Isle of Man Steam Packet vessels, made her final “Finished with Engines” crossing from Liverpool to the Island on September 4, 1982.

A sunny day turned to mist and rain as the Manxman prepared to leave Douglas for the last time. A Manx lady on the quay commented poetically “the island’s crying to see her go”, which caught the spirit of the moment.

Now Liverpool has shed its tears for the departure of a great Cunarder. Let us hope that the Manxman may yet be saved to return to her home port.

John Armstrong, via email

So tired

YOUR correspondent R Gallagher hits the nail on the head with the letter in Friday’s paper entitled “Does Anyone Really Care?”. Increasingly, I find myself tired of reading about Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year and all that it will mean for the city.

Gallagher is absolutely right in saying that it won’t make much difference to ordinary Merseysiders. They will carry on doing their jobs and paying their bills, albeit they may have more shops in which to spend their wages.

As for the “amazing events”, I do find it a little embarrassing that one of the highlights could be a concert in Liverpool by Sir Paul McCartney. It’s hardly Madonna cutting the ribbon on the opening of the new arena is it?

Tim Taylor, Speke

Seeing is believing

CAN somebody tell me who chose Phil Redmond to take over the Culture Company?

As far as I am aware he has not been elected to the post and is therefore a self-appointed spokesperson for ordinary Scousers.

At the moment, I am not convinced that it is not just all talk and have yet to see anything concrete come out of the take over.

It is all very well to say you are going to make changes and involve ordinary people, but we need to see it to believe it.

P Harris, West Derby

Top marks

FULL marks to Phil Redmond for saying it like it is over both last week’s BBC programme and what needs to be done to ensure Capital of Culture for Liverpool is the success it deserves to be.

Finally, it seems like we have someone at the helm of this shambles who has drive and experience to get things done.

H Orwell, Litherland

It’s our money

I WAS irritated by the remarks attributed to Cllr Flo Clucas (Daily Post, September 19) that Brussels has paid for major projects in Liverpool. Surely she knows all Brussels has done is re-channel our own money.

Great Britain has poured into Brussels much more than she has had returned. It would have been more effective and cheaper had the Treasury just sent the money directly to Liverpool.

FG Milnes, L23