I SOMETIMES look back to the time when the availability of employment was less of a challenge. A time when I would approach a prospective employer and say 'I can do that give us a job!' On one occasion I started at six in the morning, with a tunnelling gang under the Severn near Aust, I did not like that much because of the water coming through the roof, so I quit at 12-o-clock. I then drove to a haulage firm near Yate and got a job driving a tipper that afternoon, carrying stone and Tarmac all over the west-country for the next few months.

Most of the jobs I held were for on average eight months. I would change jobs for more money or better conditions, anything to put food on the table for my growing family. This was back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

But all in all it is not a time I feel proud of, especially now that they talk of a wasted generation of young adults who have never had a job and the prospects of getting one are very slim.

I achieved few qualifications, and with no GCSEs or 'O' levels I just proved to the employer I could do the work. That was good enough then. But like all things times change, sometimes for the better, and employers require more evidence of your competence for employment.

The opportunities I have just described will never return. But I believe everyone should have a chance of a better future. Some would say I was lucky, I had plenty of jobs but if I had my time over I would have got more education, then a better job that would have provided my family with a better pension for life now.

I have never been one to put my head above the parapet but I have been spurred on by the comment by Cllr Jane Horne, saying that there has been little support in favour of the (master-plan) for the 'Northern Quarter".'

As the proposals stand, they promise desperately needed re-generation for Cinderford and Steam Mills bringing employment opportunities for the whole of the Forest of Dean. The first purpose built college for the area, not a succession of converted grammar schools that were never designed for that role.

The £100 million development would take traffic away from the route passing Steam Mills School and through the village and relieve the congestion at Dunk's Corner as far too much heavy traffic passes through this pretty area on its way to the industrial estates beyond.

I would say to the very vocal detractors of this development, we cannot carry on living in the last century. I remember my grandfather walking back from Cannop past the big Nissen hut where Five Acres Garage now stands, on his way to a tin bath in front of the range in the house in Coveram Road. It was not that good a life, I am very sure.

To those who object to the removal of the derelict buildings surviving from the Northern Pit I would say they do nothing to enhance the memory of those who toiled underground; the memorial that already stands there does a far better job. (I would add that access may be restricted at present due to state of the site as it is now, and may be only temporary).

As far as the wildlife is concerned let's not forget the word wild. A sympathetic approach to the habitat will minimise disturbance and wildlife will re-colonise the area.

In this instance I believe people are more important. Others may agree.

I do not remember anyone throwing up their arms when I was involved in digging up the coal at the opencast back in the 70s. Maybe the powers-that-be knew nature would look after itself. You only have to walk around the area now to prove my point. And at the end of the day there are many more bats, newts, mayflies and trees to hug.

Or have they got it in for Cinderford as it was once dubbed the 'Dirtiest town in Britain.'

I am a voter and I played my part in electing the councillors I thought would have the town's best interests at heart. I think the work they have done in trying to improve Cinderford's future has been admirable but spoilt by detractors who do not have our interests on their agenda.

Others did not want Cinderford to have a Redland Tile factory and more recently a Tesco or an Asda.

I am proud to live in Cinderford and I want a future for my grandchildren, indeed all future generations. When I am gone I do not want to be remembered for opposing a brighter future for The Forest of Dean. We cannot live in a theme park.

We have to get a move on. Come on people of Cinderford, let your voices be heard.

– Neil Barnard, Cinderford.