Youth Centre

I AM writing to express my grave concern re the proposed changes to Ludlow Youth Centre. This concerns the rooms at the Youth Centre that are being made into offices in which adults will work. To my knowledge the public has not been notified of these changes and there is a complete lack of information about the proposals. It has taken previous youth workers and supporters 30 years to establish a specially designed centre to accommodate and stimulate young people from all sectors of the community.

Funding for this was secured via the European Rural Regeneration Fund to supply a place in which young people could meet and learn. Local and national governments have provided equipment for the music room.

Lack of information and consultation over the proposed changes is underhand and unfair, going against what citizens expect in a democratic society. Surely the young people themselves should have been consulted about these changes (article 12 United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child).

Ludlow is isolated from many services. We have already had cuts to our bus services, the hours allotted to youth workers, the proposed community hospital has fallen through, our recycling centre is closing, it is now impossible for new patients to obtain NHS dental treatment in the town and Shropshire Council is now wrecking our excellent library.

This proposed change is short sighted to say the least. There are already problems with the youth in the town not having enough to engage with, or adequate facilities. Will young people be able to use the building alongside other workers? What facilities will they lose? Will other workers be able to cope with the noise the young people generate both inside and outside the building, and will other persons using the building be adequately CRB checked?Will the powers that be gradually take over the whole of the building?

PAT PRICE

Burway Close

Ludlow

 

Dog fouling

I AM a dog owner who walks two dogs from the centre of Teme Street around the Burgage and Palmers Meadow at lunchtime every weekday. I applaud the council for its dog mess awareness campaign, but I do not agree with people saying that the council should provide poo bags. I, like most responsible dog owners who walk their dogs at regular times, can time my dogs’ business down to the minute, and like most responsible dog owners, I am prepared to deal with my dog’s excrement, with a supply of my own poo bags in a dispenser attached to the lead. I do not expect the council (and subsequently the rate-payer) to provide free bags or dispensers (and the associated cost of council employees having to replenish them). A dog comes with responsibility.

If dog owners can’t be bothered to carry poo bags and pick up their dog’s mess, they should be fined heavily and named and shamed. Every day I pick up after my two dogs, and have to dodge the fresh excrement on the ground right underneath the dog poo bin at the entrance to the Burgage, by the bridge. I am totally disgusted by the irresponsibility of those dog owners who turn a blind eye when their dog does its business.

MARIA BAXTER

Tenbury Wells