"Latest comments" on our front page already feature readers' reactions to articles on our "Opinion" page, and we are now taking this a step forward by inviting comments at the end of our major news stories.
And here is a comment from reader John Stedman on our lead story last week.
"Your news story March 10. Another load of irresponsible scaremongering from the Lydd Airport Action Group?
"These are Search and Rescue teams' helicopters - their crews are proficient in finding small boats and swimmers in trouble in miles of sea - likewise they have the expertise to avoid flying into the side of Nuclear Power Stations.
"I'll bet if a member of LAAG found the need for such a rescue service, then they would be rather glad that it was there."
[Editor's comment: Around this time last year we carried a story suggesting that the problem was the thousands of birds who fly in and out of the nearby nature reserve and the threat they present to aircraft - however skilled the pilot might be.
Now I do not know what threat flocks of birds may pose to a relatively slow moving helicopter, but bird strikes can and have posed problems for fast moving jets - and there may a problem of cumulative risk when a nuclear power station is next to a runway.
The sea was not particularly seen as a threat to nuclear power stations until Japan got hit by a tidal wave. And the defences at Dungeness have since been improved.
So our perception of what is a "risk" is constantly changing - and often only after an event has happened]
Photo : Ray Prewer
