From Ulez to moving to France, our readers from across the county give their weekly take on the biggest issues impacting Kent in their letters to the editor...

Some letters refer to past correspondence which can be found by clicking here.

Ulez charge is a benefit to our county too

Cllr Bennett knows he is defending a doomed culture of ‘the big car economy’, where urban areas are dominated by the car (last week’s letters).

He is trying to garner support not because he can show that Ulez is wrong. A report issued by Imperial College in 2021 reviewed Ulez and came to the conclusion that it is beneficial, but requires additional policies such as more buses and other forms of public transport.

Instead of working with TfL, Bromley and some other outer London boroughs are acting in their usual reactionary manner.

When Ulez started only 63% of vehicles were Ulez compliant, now less than 6% are non-compliant.

You have to own a petrol vehicle over 18 years old or a diesel vehicle which is eight years old, to get stung by Ulez. These are not vehicles just out of the showroom, and in any case if I were travelling to London,I would go by train or National express.

I think Cllr Bennett has also forgotten about the great transport barrier, otherwise known as the M25. Anyone travelling by van/car/truck/minibus, to a job in the metropolis, has to add at least two hours travel time to penetrate the world’s largest moving car park, so daily trips up to London are not really a productive use of staff time and probably cost more than a £12.50 Ulez charge.

Working towards Ulez standards in Kent might be a good thing, because the London Ulez is also saving our lungs, as the prevailing winds often blow metropolitan pollution towards Kent.

If all our vehicles in Kent could be made Ulez compliant within five years, we might save some lives and reduce carbon emissions.

Richard Styles

'Humourless bigots on social media are determined to denigrate everything this country has done, ignoring the good, not least spreading democratic ideals around the world...'

Attack views, not the person

In response to John Cooper, I have read all of Orwell’s essays and novels, and have no doubt that the comments he made about the British intelligentsia of the pre-war years apply equally to the current liberal elite.

As he said “England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality. In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution”.

Mr Cooper asks for evidence, and one only has to look at the behaviour of that left wing icon George Bernard Shaw whose admiration for the tyrant Stalin lasted, undimmed, until his death. After a visit to the Soviet Union in 1931 he became an unashamed apologist, viewing reports of the Ukrainian famine of 1933 as “slanderous”. He supported the terror and said that the Old Bolsheviks, put to death after show trials “often have to be pushed off the ladder with ropes around their necks”.

The individuals have changed but the mindset persists, now compounded by the humourless bigots of social media, who are determined to denigrate everything this country has done, ignoring the good for which we have been responsible, not least in spreading democratic ideals around the world. Mr Cooper may believe that to deny that these people exist is sufficient. It isn’t.

Martin Chandler need not concern himself with my soul, because anger is not a mortal sin, as is evidenced by the fact that our Lord himself displayed such emotion when he drove the money lenders out of the temple.

In any case I am quite happy to dispute with those who hold strong views different from mine, provided that they are based on knowledge, rather than attempt to reason with those whose main method of debate is to make ad hominem attacks on those with whom they disagree, Guy Steward’s description of me as stupid being a case in point.

Contrary to what he claims, I do know that climate matters. I just question whether changes that take place are anthropogenic in origin.

Colin Bullen

Memories of terrible floods

I was very interested to read about the bad floods of January 1953 that devastated parts of north Kent and Essex, as I can remember it and seeing it on Pathé News at the cinema.

When we started going to the caravan at Swalecliffe in 1962 onwards we would walk into Herne Bay and often see the remains of the old seawall, if it is still there, and how much land had been swallowed up by the 1953 flood.

My aunt did holiday at Swalecliffe in the August of 1953 and said the area was still devastated and the houses were down in the sea.

The surge went as far as Woolwich where the Thames Flood Barrier is now, but the flood water did go on further and we lived in an estate at the top of Blackwall Lane in Greenwich.

The Blackwall Tunnel began to flood and the caretaker on the estate asked tenants if they could fill up sandbags and put across Blackwall Lane (by then a road with cars and buses) to stop the flood water getting into the estate and cutting off an electricity substation on the estate near served the estate, shops along the main road and part of the old St.Alfege’s hospital directly opposite.

My father donned all his rainwater gear and we watched as most men filled the sandbags and put them across the road and luckily it held.

I believe it was also raining at the time and luckily nobody lost their lives but people living further down near the tunnel most had been flooded out as some houses had basements.

It was interesting to read about it and sad that so many people died.

We were really unprepared for it then due to time restrictions.

Stella J. Kemp

No regrets over leaving Kent

I have just seen your story about moving north due to Kent being over crowded.

We also left Kent last year due to the same reasons, we sold our family home in Maidstone that we had lived in for 30 years and moved to a wonderful manor house in the centre of France.

Houses being built on any green space, road journeys taking double the time, life was becoming unbearable.

Moving to France hasn’t been a simple move due to Brexit, but we don’t regret this life changing move.

Anthony and Heidi Muir

Fears over voting changes

The new requirement to show a specific photo ID at polling stations, which kicks in on the May 4 in certain parts of the country, is the biggest change to how we vote in a generation.

It’s going to come as a surprise to many voters - a poll published on the 13th January found that just 33% of people were aware of this requirement.

With the government’s own figures suggesting that over two million people do not have a valid photo ID, this could lead to over a hundred thousand people being turned away from polling station. So far at least, the government’s Voter Authority Certificate (VAC) is likely to make little difference, with just 10,000 applications so far.

For those who do not have a photo ID such as a driving licence or passport, you can apply online for the Voter Authority Certificate. Otherwise, you can apply for a postal vote, as these do not require a photo ID.

Views about the necessity for photo voter ID may differ, but there is a consensus on the importance of elections running smoothly and eligible voters being able to vote.

I believe that the government should be aiming to ensure every eligible voter is not barred from voting, due to a lack of a photo ID. The integrity of our elections depends on it.

Richard Symonds

Action needed on danger dogs

When is the government going to take action in dealing with the rising tide of people being killed or maimed by dogs?

Only recently, a four-year old girl lost her life when she was attacked by the family pet.

Last year alone, there were ten deaths caused by dogs.

I believe all dogs should be muzzled and kept on a leash in public places.

I’ve never really understood why anyone should have such animals in their home which are potential killers.

And I would advocate a ban on families from keeping a dog in a household with infants or very young children.

It’s time our politicians woke up to the threat these canine creatures pose. We cannot allow another child to die because of the lax laws surrounding dog ownership.

Michael Smith

Put bobbies on beat, not in helicopters

I am sure I am not the only reader to note the juxtaposition of one story saying the crime commissioner wants to put up the police precept in Kent by 6.5% with another saying a police helicopter had been used to find a suspected drink driver after a collision in a country lane.

As a police helicopter costs at least £1,500 an hour to fly, I cannot see how this is possibly justified unless the other car belonged to the chief constable!

Maurice Chittenden

Dispute over county town

I have been reading with interest and some amusement the suggestion that Maidstone should relinquish its status as Kent’s county town (I say amusement because my birth county, Cornwall, has been wrestling with this issue since the 19th century!).

Launceston (Lansen) was the ancient capital of Cornwall, but the status of county town was conferred on Bodmin in 1835. Later in the 19th century a cathedral was inaugurated in Truro and it became (and remains) Cornwall’s only city, and later County Hall was built there and thus it became the administrative capital of Cornwall (and for all intents and purposes its county town).

That was reinforced in the last century when the former Bodmin Assizes/Crown Courts were transferred to Truro and Cornwall’s only major hospital is also there.

However, the status of ‘county town’ has never been officially ceded by Bodmin and it remains historically as Cornwall’s county town, and I can personally state that is the case after speaking to a Cornwall county councillor about it a few years ago, as he confirmed that they avoid raising the issue because he and his colleagues believe it would still provoke controversy, so it is better to let sleeping dogs lie.

I don’t know if it would provoke similar controversy here in Kent, but Maidstone has an impressive history, which I believe many would wish to see jealously guarded, so it could be a case of be careful what you wish for!

Christopher Hudson-Gool

Hit the BBC where it hurts

The BBC has quite rightly come in for criticism in these columns recently. This organisation has long ceased to have any credibility as a news organisation and nowadays doesn’t even make the pretence of being impartial or independent (as required by its constitution). Many programmes are unbelievably one sided and slanted, and all too often the opinions of arrogant and overpaid producers are presented as indisputable facts.

On many issues - Covid, climate change and the war in Ukraine - to cite but three examples, only one point of view is permitted. Any other narrative or explanation is dismissed as ‘fake news’ or ‘disinformation’. The BBC now has as much credibility as Pravda had in the days of the late and unlamented USSR.

What can be done about this? Well, disgruntled viewers could pull the plug on the BBC and hit them were it really hurts - in their pockets. They should consider cancelling their TV licences. That would be far more effective than bombarding Broadcasting House with useless letters of complaint.

John Helm