Shooting is primeval

MIKE Sagar-Fenton's 'Country Byways' column is always a delight to read. I think he really hit the nail on the head with his article on shooting; I think he is correct that the thrill some people get is from shooting wildlife is atavistic. It is a remnant from our primeval past, when hunting skills were of paramount importance. Today, fortunately, most of us have lost the urge to hunt and kill innocent creatures, now that it is no longer needed for survival. Mike Sagar-Fenton describes so well the sadness and pointlessness of depriving a sentient being of its life, and turning a creature of living beauty into a corpse. Also, he rightly reminds us that pheasant shooting isn't natural at all, and just a matter of breeding birds, just to be shot. In my view, hunters and shooters are cowards, who would be unable to kill any creature without the help of dogs and guns. A natural carnivore can run fast enough to catch its prey, and then rip it apart with teeth and claws.

I would like to dump some of the hunters and shooters in a jungle without their weapons, and see just how they got on.

Not very well, I suspect.

GILL RYAN

Redruth

Award for Sgt Schmid

I SINCERELY hope Sergeant Schmid is awarded a posthumous George Cross. My late uncle, Wing-Cdr H Dunwoodie, received the George Cross for similar work, defusing a train full of German bombs at the end of the Second World War.

The bombs were being loaded onto a ship for disposal, but one exploded and my uncle and his team called in to render the rest safe. Happily he survived to receive it, and I have a copy of the gazetted citation.

M PENNELL

Truro

Shame of city's toilets

I WAS in Truro last week, and I had to use the public toilets by the shoppers' car park. Being disabled and in a wheelchair, I used the disabled toilets provided at the car park. Shame on Truro on the state of the disabled unisex toilet. It was filthy, the smell was disgusting and it was an absolute disgrace to the city of Truro.

I hope I never have to use it again.

VIVIENE RUNDLE

Veryan

Where will our waste go?

IN 2010 the waste landfill site at St Day will close; so what is going to happen to all of the waste that is generated in the south west of our wonderful county? I'll tell you shall I? Because of a lack of facilities to deal with waste locally, it will continue to go to St Day.

However, it cannot be landfilled, so it will be reloaded onto even larger gas-guzzling vehicles and then transported to the other end of the county to be – you guessed it – landfilled! Landfill tax at the moment is £40 per ton, rising by £8 per ton per year until 2013; so in 2013 landfill tax will be £72 per ton. Don't forget that's just the tax; you also have a gate fee. By 2013, the landfilling of waste will cost in the region of £130 per ton.

Between now and then, every business and every ratepayer in Cornwall will have to endure massive increases in their waste disposal costs.

And what are the decision-making people of the county doing about it? They are having a meeting, and then another meeting, and yes, you guessed it, another meeting. Now, there are some people who are in favour of waste incineration at St Dennis, and some people who are against; and this will be sorted one way or another at the appeal in the spring. However, this incinerator – permission granted or not – is to cater for domestic household waste, so what is going to happen to the 300,000 tons or so of waste generated annually by our business communities?

They haven't even considered the problem, and if the decision-makers continue to ignore this issue then we will buried up to our necks in the proverbial matter.

LINDA KNIGHT

Goonhavern

Kindness made our day

ON SATURDAY morning I was standing at the bus stop near Wickes in Threemilestone with my mum in the pouring rain, when a lady stopped her car and asked where we were going.

We said "Truro", and she offered us a lift.

It was only when we got halfway into Truro that she told us she didn't actually need to go into Truro herself, and we were so grateful for her taking the trouble to take us into Truro, and even home, right to the door.

She only gave us her first name, Lynne, and we think she is from Threemilestone, but we were unable to phone or even write to say thank you.

Her kindness really made our day and I hope she is reading this and knows how very much appreciated her help was. Thank you Lynne. You are a star!

ANN AND ROSEMARY BALLARD

Truro

What of Elderly in Need?

IT'S Children in Need time, and the BBC pours thousands of pounds of licence-payers' money into a wide-range of spectacular television and local events in order to promote this annual charitable fund-raising cause.

Perhaps other readers might like to correct me if I'm wrong in thinking that in every other sphere of its entire output, mainly television, the BBC would have us believe they are independent in their reporting and coverage; 'impartial' and not led by their masters, Parliament.

It is surely no coincidence that inasmuch as the UK is viewed as one of the richest countries in the world, there shouldn't really be any children in need.

It stands to reason that the other side of the coin should tell us there are also elderly in need; in which case, one might anticipate that what is the largest public communications 'corporation' in the world, subsidised by the bulk of the population, would alternate year on year to cater for both children and elderly.

Albeit programme-wise, the BBC is as contemptuous as this current Government; in the case of the latter, when it comes to fairly treating and looking after the elderly, who still, by comparison with other European countries, receive from the state the smallest retirement pensions.

PETER MAHONEY

Reawla