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By Arthur16/5/2021 09:14Sun May 16 09:14:31 2021

Views: 620

Most houses in the borough have been leafletted by the council to put their views on their planned proposals for the development of Staines. Normally I would have put this in the round filing cabinet indoors and helped fill my re0cycling bin. however, I am going to air my views and would urge each of you to consider giving yours. Firstly, I have written to a number of councillors on more than one occasion about the plight of our club. The only time they responded was when I copied in the local paper about the issue of development of our ground. If they really think that the borough needs to improve its cultural life, football is a big part of the nations culture and should also be a big part of the town's culture. Whist bigger and better town centre developments are seemingly an easy tick box bringing more visitors and residents to the borough, I would ask you if this is really the best move for the borough at this time. Sadly we have to accept that global warming is a fact of life. Our ground has been flooded too frequently in recent years. What would further development in the area bring. The average person uses 142 tires of water per day. The average family uses 12,00 gallons of water per month - washing machines, dishwashers, showers included. The underground drainage system of our town was built in 1902, when showers were holed buckets on sticks. SWkelmersdale, a fairly "new town" is already asking for government aid as many of their 87 underpasses flood in the winter. Their council put the main cause to new developments that the drainage system cannot cope with. Similarly Tewkesbury have raised the same issue with the same underlying causes. Guioldford Street and Commercial Road were flooded last year with raw sewage in the roads. Is this the kind of town we really want to live in? The biggest land owner in the borough is the council, financed by one of the highest debt levels of any council. Should we encourage them to encourage private developers to destroy our town? Which is where we come back to the football ground. The freehold is currently owned by the Thames Club, albeit in dubious circumstances. The lease has a real clause in 8 years and the freehold is being eyed by developers for residential development - good for the developers and bad for the culture, and the public health of the town. If you feel as strongly as I do, air your views to the council. I may not be here in 8 years, but I do care about those who are following on.

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