I have spoken with some of the small shopkeepers in Farnham. They are losing money whilst the traffic changes are being installed. Some of them may not survive the next two years.

This would be so unfair. They work very hard to pay the high rates and rents charged by the landlords and local council of Farnham.

I feel that the council rates and rents should be reduced for the duration of the traffic works.

The council already charge enough for visiting Farnham through their car park charges, which many of these same shopkeepers have to pay just to work in Farnham. The council too will lose money if visitors stop coming to Farnham

Jean Mortlock

Hale

The piece by Farnham and Bordon MP Gregory Stafford on the Scunthorpe steel crisis (Herald, April 17) reflects opportunistic finger-pointing rather than a balanced look at a complex situation.

Firstly, the decline of the UK steel industry has been decades in the making—under both Conservative and Labour governments.

To claim this crisis is purely Labour’s failure is misleading when successive Tory governments oversaw years of underinvestment, privatisation, and dependency on foreign ownership—including the original approval of the takeover by the Chinese group Jingye.

Secondly, Stafford criticises Jingye’s rejection of a £500 million rescue bid but fails to mention that as a commercial entity the company is under no obligation to accept offers that don’t meet its conditions—especially after years of political and economic uncertainty in the UK.

The Conservative government’s role should have been to secure those guarantees earlier, not trying to lay the blame when private negotiations collapse now that his party is in opposition.

As for the rushed bill and sweeping powers: this is a tactic all too familiar from the Conservative playbook.

Stafford’s outrage over legislative overreach rings hollow, especially from a party that passed major acts of parliament with little or no scrutiny during Brexit and Covid.

Finally, invoking national security and military bases in Hampshire feels like a stretch. Yes, defence matters, but Scunthorpe’s economic lifeline should not be weaponised for attempts at political point-scoring.

Real leadership would focus on building a future for steel through public investment, green technology, and fair terms for workers—not trying to score headlines with blame games.

Dave Shurlock

Farnham Labour

I was heartened by the piece by our MP Damian Hinds last week (Herald and Post, April 17) in which he argues convincingly in favour of free trade.

I wonder if his article was cleared by Conservative Party Headquarters , or whether he is keen to distance himself from headquarters and show the voters of East Hampshire where he stands on the issue. He was after all a Remainer in 2016.

Charles Bevan

The Square

Petersfield

Recently, the advisory cycle lane markings along Alton’s Anstey Road were removed by Hampshire County Council (HCC) contractors. In doing so, they removed the longest bit of cycling infrastructure in Alton.

While not mandatory, and narrower than the minimum recommended width for cycle lanes, they were used by many local cyclists on this often busy main route into town.

The benefit of cycle lanes is that they delineate road space for cyclists and alert drivers to the possible presence of cyclists ahead, making cycling safer. These lanes gave confidence to many users who are now hesitant to cycle along this stretch of road.

It seems perverse of HCC to waste taxpayers money on removing some inoffensive and helpful road markings, while simultaneously consulting residents on where we’d like them to make budget cuts for next year (the future services consultation).

So far it has proved impossible to find out the reason for their removal. Cycle Alton has asked several people at HCC including officers and our councillor, but as yet without any success.

I’ve lost count of the number of people who have asked me where the cycle lanes have gone. If someone from HCC could tell Alton cyclists why, we’d love to know.

The only advice we’ve been given so far is to report them as ‘missing’ on the HCC website, which is ironic when it was HCC who removed them!

Janice Montgomerie

Cycle Alton

Many people take advantage of the Heritage Open Days that are held in September, which give people a chance to ‘try out new experiences’ for free.

According to the Heritage Open Days website, these events are part of England’s largest festival of history and culture.

For several years, our local Alton Quakers have opened their premises and put on displays in Heritage Week but they have been the only ones to take part – so far!

In order to remedy this, it is planned to hold an Alton Heritage Day on Saturday, September 13.

Thanks to the generosity of Dementia-friendly Alton, we will have the use of the Assembly Rooms. So, we would like to invite local clubs, groups, societies, businesses or families to join in and have a table where they could share their history with everyone.

The Heritage Open Days theme this year is architecture, so it would be lovely if some of the displays could reflect our buildings, but that is not essential.

As much of what we have lost has been connected with our brewing industry, we could also make a feature of this.

Alton has a rich and varied history which we are proud of and that we need to preserve and publicise while, at the same time, we support the valuable work that is being done by Dementia-friendly (for whom donations will be welcome).

So, if you are a club, group, society, business or family that has a history that you would like to display – please contact me at [email protected]. Planning is in its early stages but it is hoped to make this the first of an annual event.

Jane Hurst

Alton