WITH millions of tourists and spectators from around the world expected to pass through Heathrow in 2012, what is it that will leave a lasting impression?
What will the world's journalists and camera crews think as they disembark at Heathrow and start heading out towards the Olympic venues?
My guess is it will be something along the lines of: What an absolute mess!
Passing the local villages will be cringe-worthy - Harlington, Sipson, Cranford, Longford and Harmondsworth all suffer from the council's total disregard and neglect.
The streets are still lined with dead and dying trees, the graffiti is still a major problem, bus shelters are smashed, pavements cracked, fly-tipping is rife (just look behind Manor Parade shops in Harlington), shopkeepers do not seem to give a damn about their frontages, and as many residents seem not to give a hoot about their own front gardens any more.
Litter just blows about until it gets trapped against a fence or wall, and where are the council gardeners when you cannot walk down a footpath without having to step into the road to avoid overgrown foliage?
Oh yes, did you all notice the new street signs that the council put up last year - thousands of new ones - with the little green squiggle on the bottom?
What for? Our road was given a new sign 12 months before. What a total waste of our money.
And where, by the way, are our hanging baskets that seem to flourish off high street lamp-posts in Ickenham, Ruislip, Northwood etc throughout the summer? Are we not worthy?
Each village high street, at least, needs a major makeover within the next two years, or we are going to be the laughing stock of the world.
CARLY JONES Brickfield Lane
Harlington
