This week’s Newark Advertiser readers’ letters
Fearing the demise of our midweek market
I love our market here in Newark. It is one of the most defining parts of our town’s identity.
Five days a week, the town centre is bustling with traders and shoppers offering a whole range of things from plants and clothing, to antiques and food.
We also have many regular pop-up seasonal and speciality markets, and I always look forward to having a mooch around them.
We should be proud of our market history, but at the same time acknowledge that times are changing.
With an increase in online shopping and the decline of the high street, with many recent store closures, the fact is less people are choosing to buy in person.
Knowing this, I was still dismayed to see that there were only two traders on the market when I popped in one Wednesday morning.
Traditionally Wednesday would have been the busiest day of the week as the livestock sales would take place at the old Cattle Market.
After it closed, the midweek markets have not been the same.
I wonder, could there be some sort of incentive offered to small businesses which are not big enough for a shop front location but may benefit from having a market stall.
Perhaps the council could offer cheaper stall rates for a limited period to new traders to encourage more participation?
The only other alternative I see is that we scrap the midweek markets and expand the weekend to create really showstopper days that draw people from all over the area.
In the meantime, I would encourage everyone to consider using the market.
I have found so many things I needed there, and regularly buy fruit and vegetable in the exact quantities I want, which not only saves money but avoids waste from buying too much in prepackaged amount from the supermarket. — A. MOORE, Newark
Thank you
Thank you to everyone who came to help me after I was involved in a traffic accident on London Road, Balderton, on Friday afternoon.
I have been overwhelmed by the messages, help and gifts I have received.
I'm ok and will be back to work soon if not already.
Thank you everyone. — PAUL DUDDLES, via email.
Signalling change of position?
At the United Nations recently, American President Donald Trump was critical of many things but one of his biggest criticisms was for his European allies who he attacked for investing in renewable energy and opening its borders to migration.
He surprised the UN audience when he said that climate change was “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world and was lumbering European countries with expensive energy costs compared to fossil fuels”.
He particularly criticised the UK government for imposing taxes on North Sea oil.
We now hear that Ed Miliband is examining ways to allow oil and gas exploration without breaking manifesto promises and is planning to encourage drilling in the North Sea without granting new licences on new parts of the seabed.
The oil industry claims it could extract more than 7bn extra barrels of oil and gas if given permission to explore and produce in waters close to those in which they already operate and officials seem to be planning to allow companies to explore new parts of the seabed from the sites they already operate, by a process known as “tie-backs”.
Trump is clearly the leader of an administration that wears its religion firmly on its sleeve and he believes that uncontrolled immigration is beginning to threaten Europe's Judeo-Christian heritage.
Might it possibly be that our own government is beginning to shift its position on both issues? I do hope so. — R. SHEPPARD, Newark.
Put farmers back at top of agenda
In his letter Solar Struggles Continue Robert Sheppard is right to draw attention to Ed Milliband’s march of madness to decimate our potentially productive farmland with unnecessary solar panels, feeding the Net Zero hunger instead of feeding the population.
I accept that there is a place for solar (and wind power) in the UK energy mix, but the headline statements will never match reality.
I would urge readers, and especially decision making councilors and politicians with access to the internet to find and bookmark the website https://grid.iamkate.com/
This provides a constant live overview of where our energy is being sourced in a simple visual colour chart showing the amount of wind, solar, nuclear, biomass (mostly Drax burning American trees) and reliable gas.
Occasional day or night checking will show the variability of renewable energy and the salient points are these:
There have been very rare days when gas is a small percentage and the bulk of our electricity is supplied by wind and solar (green and yellow on the chart),
The number of days when solar can meet most of our needs is even rarer, but is has happened once or twice and begs the question, if that is already achievable, then apart for profit for developers and landowners, why do we need to keep building more and more solar farms ?
On the much more frequent periods when wind and solar fail to provide, this is simply because there is not enough wind or sunlight ( or even daylight) and building more will have no benefit whatsoever.
We do not need electric vehicles, or expensive heat pumps or the £28bn costing and unproven “pie in the sky” carbon capture schemes, so scrap Net Zero, use small modular nuclear reactors and get farming back on the agenda. — COLIN SOUTHGATE, Coddington.
In search of school friend
I am hoping to trace a friend from schooldays who I believe could have moved to the Newark area.
Her maiden name was Vicky Sheward. She lived in West Bridgford, and attended Lutterell School.
She was a good hockey player, and I think played for Crimson Ramblers when still a schoolgirl.
Vicky started work before I left school, and that is when we went different ways.
I can be contacted on 01636674589, or at ken.mounser@gmail.com — KEN MOUSER, via email.
Community spirit is strong
I was speaking with a friend who had recently moved to Newark, and she told me about all the new community groups she had joined.
A few days later I was speaking with someone else and they told me about some events they had attended, all organised by volunteers.
There is often a lot of negativity about Newark, and these voices seem to be the loudest.
But if there is anything that this town should definitely be proud of, it is the sheer level of good will we have.
We have so many community groups, charities, and volunteer organisations doing good things to enrich all of our lives.
We should thank them for it, — S. GOODE, via email.