Dear Editor,

THE Wellington Weekly News March 6 front page - if ever there was a headline to prove the failure in planning, this is it!

It is well known that building housing estates without the necessary infrastructure, is wrong.

It's time local authorities take 'the bull by the horns' and not allow any estates to be built without the important necessary social and community needs, to be included in the plans.

Everyone at sometime will need the skills of a GP; where will people find one as they move to the many new estates in the Wellington area?

Will Estate agents tell the whole truth of moving to this desert, where there is little chance of getting an NHS dentist or a regular GP?

If that was given in a house sellers information pack, what would that do for the housing market?

It's high time Council Planners deny planning permission to the builders, unless they guarantee to include the other essential infrastructure, regardless of central government.

Chris Phillips

Wellington

Dear Editor,

THE government with the crisis over the Middle East oil are willing to help families, elderly, disabled, with energy bills for those less fortunate.

Everybody else who suffers pays higher bills, are taxed through the roof, plus paying ridiculous amounts of council tax.

The government are putting it to councils to help with the energy situation.

The councils who are better off will have to foot the bill and the other councils who waste communities’ hard-earned money will get out of helping communities.

So, the government are palming it off to councils so the government look like they are caring for people when at the end of the day all they think of is taxes and somebody else to blame as they waste as well.

The country is a disaster, the wrong people are running councils and government.

Linda Sparks

Williton

Dear Editor,

IT IS true that the NHS is not always transparent when patients suffer harm, as Baroness Amos has found in her probe into maternity safety. All too often the NHS does not adhere to its statutory duty of candour, which requires openness and honesty when things go wrong.

A lack openness prevents vital lessons from being learned to prevent needless harm, suffering, and heartbreak from being repeated. At the core of all NHS spending on litigation is negligence which could and should be avoided.

Failing to be honest also drives up the NHS’s bill for compensating patients and families. Cases drag on needlessly, and require much more work from victims’ lawyers because the NHS is holding on to all of the information about what happened. Often families are in the dark until they bring a claim.

The approach to patient safety is too fragmented. We have yet another investigation which highlights the human cost that comes with a lack of clear strategy to keep mums and babies safe. Strong leadership with clear links between patients, regulators, healthcare providers, and policymakers is needed desperately.

Guy Forster

Vice president, Association of Personal Injury Lawyers

Dear Editor,

Many families celebrated Mother’s Day, but for too many female cats, motherhood looks very different.

Cats Protection is campaigning to ensure cats are not forgotten by decision‑makers in England. As part of our Cat Manifesto, we are calling on Westminster to introduce regulations on cat breeding, and to ban the breeding of cats with extreme characteristics.

A lack of breeding regulations leaves female cats at risk of being used as breeding machines.

Stronger safeguards would help ensure female cats are better protected, and that anyone breeding cats meets clear welfare standards.

Motherhood matters - for humans and for animals. This Mother’s Day, we are asking readers to join us in calling for change, to give cat mums and their kittens the best lives possible.

The government has left cats behind by failing to include any regulation on cat breeding in the new Animal Welfare Strategy.

Readers can add their names to our open letter calling for urgent action here: action.cats.org.uk/page/184735/petition/1

Yours faithfully,

Annabel Berdy

Cats Protection advocacy and government relations manager

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