Danger from raised paving stones

Copy of letter sent to the highways department of Hillingdon Council:

I write to inform you of an excessively deformed pavement in Walnut Way, South Ruislip.

While walking my neighbour’s small dog there on Saturday, February 16, I inadvertently tripped over a protruding flagstone, sustaining injuries, bruising and a broken arm.

This has resulted in continuing enforced absence from work.

For your information, one of the flagstone photos includes a standard matchbox to indicate the extent of the pavement deformation.

Please advise what procedure and documentation exists for me to obtain redress for my injury caused by Hillingdon Council’s failure to adequately maintain the safety of a public pedestrian pavement?

I can find no information on this on the council website. Please provide the appropriate forms.

What action will you take to rectify the identified pavement, as it constitutes a hazard to the public in its present state?

K BORUCKA

Field End, South Ruislip

n Steve Palmer, deputy director of residents’ services at Hillingdon Council said: “The council received a hand-delivered letter containing details of a tripping incident [in] Walnut Way, South Ruislip, on March 5.

“Following receipt of the details the location was inspected on March 6 and an area of paving was made safe by the council’s rapid response crew the same day. A permanent repair has also been arranged.

“A letter was sent to the resident requesting further information and on receipt the details of the incident have been forwarded to the council’s claims handlers.

“They will investigate the matter and will be in contact with the resident.”

Alternative school sites are available

I HAVE just read the Gazette article and letters page remarks on Lake Farm, ts [Act now for future education needs, Letters, March 13].

The whole issue stinks.

It now proves that the civic centre does not care in the least about Hayes.

There were many other places they could put a school, had they thought about it beforehand. The old football ground site comes to mind; why not build a school as well as houses?

No, just let the property speculators do what they want; it’s more lucrative to build houses for sale than a school (old swimming pool site) without thinking about any sort of social infrastructure problems that building only houses will bring.

What about the station site and the EMI site? They could easily accommodate a school for the good of the future they keep harping on about.

Regarding the letter from Barry Hartness, his remarks on John McDonnell and Labour councillors not being able to suggest alternative sites is utter rubbish, as many sites were put foward.

I myself produced a footprint plan of the school proposal that exactly fitted the old swimming pool site – all rejected.

BRIAN DUFFY

Goshawk Gardens, Hayes

Traffic snarl-ups a foretaste of HS2

OVER the past two weeks we have suffered flooding at the Maple Cross end of Tilehouse Lane, which has led to four-way temporary lights operating on the A412.

You can imagine the queues during the rush hour.

That of itself is causing a considerable problem, and if the M25 is shut for any reason I shudder to think what the implications would be because the A412 is the diversion route.

Perhaps this is just a foretaste of what we can expect if the High Speed 2 route proceeds, despite re-assurances from HS2.

MIKE FOSBERRY

Via email

Reading from the Tory mantra

BARRY Hartness appears to be setting out his stall as a council candidate for the Conservatives in his letter about the school proposed for Lake Farm.

I am sure he is a resident of Hayes, but Hayes is a very big area, so where exactly does he live?

His letter is almost a direct quote from every Conservative argument to build a school on Lake Farm.

He clearly has yet to be given free rein for his original thoughts.

Nobody is denying that children deserve the best start in life, then they can achieve great heights, go on to university or even become a milkman.

It’s about the proposed site, not the need for a school – although the need appears to be dwindling by the day.

MARY HYDE

Via email

A superb service from National Grid

WE ALL complain about our spiralling energy bills but it is nice to know that someone is quickly on hand when an emergency arises.

Having smelt gas late one night last week, we rang at 11.30pm.

National Grid arrived within half an hour and various workers were there until 5.30am. We were without gas for just over 12 hours but were supplied with electric heaters.

When the pipe was fixed more people came to put our garden back in order. So thank you National Grid. You are worth every penny of your share of our bill.

D ORR

Sidmouth Drive, Ruislip

HS2 chief should apologise and quit

Copy of letter from Keri Brennan of Hillingdon Against HS2 to Alison Munro, chief executive of HS2

PLEASE can you tell me how your website has on its homepage an utterly misleading headline, ‘Government wins phase one judicial review’?

You lost a judicial review and have been found to have acted as an organisation in a way that was so unfair as to be unlawful. In a way that affects the most vunerable and impacted people along the route.

Members of the public told you about this over and over again for more than two years.

You have ignored it, and it has taken people along the line much cost and stress to make this recognised.

The press release this headline relates to also states that you will be seeking to recover costs from the claimants of one of the judicial reviews, but totally fails to mention that you will be paying the costs of the one you lost.

Just because there was more than one judicial review at the same time does not make being found unlawful through one any less important.

I am so concerned about your misrepresentation that I am copying this to the three Hillingdon MPs and am asking each to ask you to stop misleading the public about HS2 and to accept you have behaved unlawfully, to apologise and to resign.

KERI BRENNAN Via email

Anger is growing at Aldi store bid

I REFER to your article in the Uxbridge Gazette about a proposed Aldi ‘shed’ at the Grand Union Village, [Plans for superstore on housing complex, Hayes and Harlington Gazette, February 13].

I would like to state that most of the residents are against the development for many reasons, from traffic congestion and noise to anti-social behaviour.

There is already a Costcutter in the village. The poor chap paid more than £600,000 for it.

What’s that compared with the 10 or so jobs they will create? Many families will be affected, not to mention the prices of our properties for which we have paid – as one resident said – ‘top dollar’.

The decent thing to do is build a leisure centre as promised, or for the landowner to hand the land to the council as green land. After all, it has made a lot of money from this development.

Tempers are high in Grand Union Village and as this was an eco-friendly development, giving Aldi permission will go against all that.

SUNIL KAPOOR

Via email

Centre parking fees hit non-members

AS YOU may be aware, Highgrove swimming pool will re-open on April 1, probably with all the top-nobs from the council in attendance.

I would like to draw your attention to something else which begins that day at the leisure centre – parking charges.

The charges are similar to the rest of the borough, with the first 30 minutes free with your Hillingdon First card. But I would point out that although those with membership get free parking, people like myself who attend the centre regularly but choose pay-as-you-go will have to pay parking charges.

Finding this very discriminatory, I have contacted three of my ward councillors, who have managed to get an answer from Nicky McDermott, sports contract manager.

She says that members have given a ‘significant financial commitment’ but what she doesn’t seem to grasp is pay-as-you-go members pay much more per visit.

As I have stated, I feel this is blatant discrimation and it must be brought out into the open, hopefully through your newspaper.

BARRY SPEAR Via emai