Why Chris Packham demands respect over rural issues – Yorkshire Post Letters

I MUST take issue with your correspondent John Fernie over his comments regarding Chris Packham (The Yorkshire Post, July 17). It is necessary to have people who care enough about environmental and wildlife issues to stick their necks out occasionally and highlight matters that we may not be aware of, or may not seem immediately relevant to our lives. Chris Packham and others have a vital role in speaking up over issues which, for many of us, may not initially seem important.

Also, I think Mr Fernie does a disservice to people who work in the countryside. I know several who welcome Chris Packham’s contributions and do not see them as short term negatives as others imply. It is not a case of ‘us’ versus ‘them’, but rather a more enlightened working together. As for his ( Mr Fernie’s) dig at Packham’s relationship with the BBC, I’m not sure of his point. If he has a ‘beef’ about the BBC, then I ask what programmes is he watching, or perhaps more pertinently, which programmes is he not watching?

From: Andrew Mercer, Guiseley.

RE the BBC’s Countryfile, more features by John Craven please and a lot fewer by Helen Skelton and Matt Baker.