Daily Echo letters

We'll have to bill health authority for bottled water
I AM becoming increasingly incensed at the sheer arrogance and intransigence of the South Central Strategic Health Authority (SHA), in riding roughshod over public opinion, by refusing to accept that the majority oppose its plans to mass medicate the local populace.
Like thousands of fellow citizens, I certainly do not want this poison added to my water supply just because irresponsible parents choose to ply their children with chocolate, sweets and sugar-laden soft drinks.
If, despite the best efforts of the anti-fluoridation movement, the decision is made to pollute our supply with this chemical and we are forced to buy bottled water, for drinking or cooking use, to avoid ingesting it, I would like to make the following suggestion in respect of the increased cost of doing this.
Since the SHA would compel Southern Water to add it, it would be wrong to withhold payments to the supplier, who is not at fault. Instead, why don't all opponents simply obtain receipts for each purchase of bottled water and then attach them to an annual expense claim, which would be submitted to the SHA for reimbursement? We pay enough already to receive our presently untainted water and I fail to see why we should be obliged to spend hundreds more on the bottled variety
Finally, in order to "reassure" us, the SHA has said that there will be no risk of accidental over dosage when the equipment is installed at the treatment works, as suitable safe guards will be in place. Poppycock! Nothing technical can be made 100 per cent safe. I work in the field of industrial measurement and control, as an instrument technician and have first-hand experience of an incident where, despite many fail-safe systems being in place, catastrophic failure of plant occurred. Several months ago, one of our sites was hit by a bolt of lightning, which completely destroyed all the instrumentation and protective circuits. require monitoring and control, there is no way that anyone can guarantee that a similar occurrence would not lead to a massive overdose ending up in the supply After all, and assuming that each treatment plant is permanently manned, if the alarms/computers were totally wrecked, how would the shift operator know what was actually going on? RALPH FROST, Woolston,Southampton.

THE vote by Southampton City Council in favour of a referendum on fluoridation will surely be the last nail in the coffin for the members of the Strategic Health Authority.
How on earth can they justify ignoring the wishes of democratically elected councillors and MPs who represent nearly 200,000 people? It almost defies belief that the SHA can continue to operate in splendid isolation, trotting out the same old cold press statement.
It largely ignores a campaign that has gone on for months and months. It has not responded to the excellent scrutiny work undertaken by Hampshire County Council. It arrogantly dismiss the views of parish, town, district and city councils. It thinks its will should prevail over local MPs and even the Prime Minister who said: "It is for local people to decide". For goodness sake, resign your unelected posts, stop spending our money on legal costs trying to force through something that is not wanted. The people will not accept this.
COUNCILLOR DAVID HARRISON, leader, New Forest District Liberal Democrats.