READER LETTERS: Mervyn Lambert only brings good to Garboldisham
I write in response to B Smith’s detrimental comments towards Mervyn Lambert (Letters, Diss Express, September 15).
Firstly, I’m am curious as to how a person who doesn’t live in our village is allowed to express opinion as to what the residents of another village think.
As the owner of Garboldisham Village Store and a resident, I must say B Smith’s comments couldn’t be further from the truth.
To suggest that Mr Lambert’s Plant Hire causes distress to many local villagers is, frankly, ridiculous.
I have never heard one single derogatory comment towards the company from my customers, who have nothing but praise for Mr Lambert and all the good he does our village.
Mr Lambert only enhances the lives of the villagers and his continued patronage of local businesses is exemplary.
He is always happy to lend village projects and businesses machinery to use. He personally pays for many projects.
His employees keep the village shop and post office busy with frequent visits, while the company uses the post office for all its mail and use it to tax all its plant hire machines and vehicles.
It has made a massive contribution to the success of the Fox pub, which has reopened after being closed for nine years.
To suggest that Mr Lambert causes distress to villagers is laughable and can be seen in just the fact that he won’t let any employee or deliveries to his yard go through Smallworth, Garboldisham, and insists that they use the A1066. He has, in fact, dropped suppliers who have driven trucks through Smallworth. He will always employ local people and a good many of his employees live in the village.
The majority of his close family, including his mother, are residents of Garboldisham.
I believe an apology should be issued by the Diss Express for this unfounded, inflammatory accusation – not only to Mr Lambert, but also the residents of Garboldisham, who have been made to look like they have issue with a man and a company that bring only good to their home.
R Starling
Waterloo House
Garboldisham
Editor’s note: I would like to clarify that the views expressed on these pages are not necessarily those of this newspaper. While some may disagree with B Smith’s comments – and the responses in these pages point to that – it would be out of place for the Diss Express to apologise for them. What we are committed to doing is offering a platform for all our readers to have their say, irrespective of whether their view is a widely-held one. This is what freedom of speech demands, and it is exactly what any newspaper should advocate.
Real point has been missed
In response to the B Smith’s letter (Diss Express, September 15) concerning the vast grain silo redevelopment adjacent to the A1066, I feel I should point out that the parish of Bressingham covers a wide area and he lives at least 1.5 miles away. I, on the other hand, live a mere 230 yards away.
Mr Smith will scarcely be aware of the planned monstrosity, while very little of the HGV traffic it will generate is likely to pass his way.
He can, therefore, probably continue to enjoy the peaceful, pastoral scene about which he appears to reminisce, while we “newer people” (yes, I have only lived here for 17 years) are “looking forward to the new development” in the same way that turkeys look forward to Christmas.
Whereas Geoffrey Lazell (Diss Express, September 1) was warning of the wider implications of this plan on the surrounding area, B Smith, with his rather patronising and somewhat parochial tone, seems to have completely missed the point.
Kathryn Sansom
Fen Street
Bressingham
- Send your letters to editorial@dissexpress.co.uk, or by post to Diss Express, Norfolk and Suffolk House, Mere Street, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 4AE. Please provide a name, street name, and a town/village
