Letters to the editor

Perhaps we should be asking why youngsters are prepared to abuse this much loved monument in a way which would have been unthinkable a generation ago. Likewise, the plan to floodlight the memorial should raise questions about the equation of illumination with security. Why, whereas gas lamps used to pop out at 11.30, do we now have to live in a world of perpetual ersatz daylight?

Perhaps we should put our efforts into correcting the causes of our problems rather than pargeting them with fences and light.

It must be said, however, that a floodlit memorial would look very fine indeed. But can I beg for the floodlights to face downward in order to avoid adding to the menace of light pollution, which denies us all a clear view of the stars. Some American states already control light pollution and I believe we should consider doing the same.

Is it possible that a glimpse of the awesome majesty of the night sky, once revealed, would help to overcome anti-social behaviour? Probably not, but it wouldn't do any harm.

George Speller

Hill Top Road

Keighley

SIR - I agree with the redevelopment plans for the town centre. Keighley does need cash to rebuild its centre pride but we could start now by making the shops on the approach to Keighley look nice.

Some of the shops, not all, are a disgrace and this is on most of the roads going into the town centre.

Let's get a local by-law stating that shops must look neat and tidy. We want people who come into the town to be impressed, not depressed. This is our town and we want it to look good, not in 15 years time, but now.

Christopher M Kelly

Haworth Road

Lees-cum-Crossroads

SIR - I appreciate that you will have been invited to see the displays at Dalton Mills but I find it difficult to understand the ideas planned for Keighley and whether it has a centre or a heart?

What concept are these "corridors" - lifestyle, creative and connected?

Will this add to council tax bills? Why could not Arup have produced perhaps a four page tabloid to go out with the Keighley News showing the final stage of all these developments as part of its promotion and are these firm plans or still subject to change?

I see no use for the eyesore of Damside car park unless reinvented as part of the envisaged edge-of-town car parking: will any free parking and shuttle bus exist? Probably, like your correspondent Sue Garbutt, I do my weekly bulky and/or heavy shopping by car and a six-mile round trip does not cost me as much as that of a bus to town and a taxi back.

This must sound either negative or odd but does North Street need wider pavements because Keighley has wider people? Will not a Cavendish Street bus-only route affect trade for all the small shops and also car access to Sainsbury's supermarket (although this seems to have disappeared on the map produced in your paper with the shaded areas as shown for development)? I also thought Keighley had lots of pedestrian routes -- known traditionally as pavements -- along with the, I reckon, 13 sets of traffic lights currently within about one-and-a-half miles of the centre of Keighley. When my cousin visited me from Huby he reckoned to count eight sets of lights from past the B&Q roundabout to Oakworth Road.

A city such as Leeds can get away with a huge pedestrian centre as it has many bus and train commuters, finance/banking, department stores, arcades and a massive indoor/outdoor market, etc. I do not see a thriving town such as Skipton trying to be other than a quality market town -- obsessed with a corridor concept, clearing traffic? Keighley gets choked with traffic because of unco-ordinated lights/drivers ignoring yellow hatched areas/poor use of left or right filters - but try it during school holidays and it is never quite so bad!

On the positive side, I agree that Keighley will be cleared of traffic and also with Cllr Mallinson that these plans will have "a positive outcome on the through flow of traffic"... traffic will flow through and not stop to shop.

B E VARLEY

Mount View, Oakworth

SIR - Disabled parking - Airedale General Hospital. When I read Keith Wright's article in last week's Keighley News I whole heartedly agreed with him.

As a disabled person myself I could not believe it when the four "disabled" bays adjacent to the ambulance bay by the out-patients department had been removed in favour of new bays much further away.

The hospital spokesman obviously has little or no understanding of the needs of disabled patients and visitors. The four bays in question should be kept for wheelchair users.

PETER J WILD

Springfield Court,

Keighley

SIR - I was delighted to read in the Keighley News that Big Brother Bradford is to include a new "working" lift and upgraded entrance to Keighley Library.

They are good to us!

I've been waiting for three years at least to get into the Reference Library. I nearly got there 18 months ago in my electric wheelchair but the lift broke down half way up and I had to be rescued by three burly, cheerful, firemen.

After this incident Bradford introduced a rule that if the disabled wanted to go to the Reference Library (or even a Third Age monthly meeting in the Library Theatre) they would have to transfer to the Library's own wheelchair. This is obviously the thinking of a non-wheelchair user.

I expect this decision was made by the same "Bradford Brother" who chose an overseas firm to fit the current stair lift instead of selecting a local lift manufacturer.

But, I expect, we have to be grateful for small mercies, however. Some 4,000 books re-stocked in the North Street library and 9,000 books replaced in the children's library. But try to get hold of a book by a classical writer in Keighley Library - you'll be lucky!

Now we can all await the grand opening of the lift to the Reference Library.

DERRICK H GREEN

Upper School Street,

Steeton

SIR - I feel inspired to write to thank the Swimstart swimming pool team in Silsden.

I have only just found out about this group and signed up my three-year-old daughter for a four-day course over the Easter holidays. I had few aspirations of what could be achieved with just half an hour a day and was stunned to see the progress made through Gemma Hornsby's gentle encouragement to work hard through fun games and activities.

I have nothing but praise for the professionalism of this group, from initial contact and booking, to the standard of teaching. My daughter had a fantastic time and I am sure that we will be re-enrolling in the summer.

With the number of accidents that occur each summer around water and this small pool specifically set up to prevent such tragedies, please think of whether your child should be learning to swim.

Younger siblings can watch with parents from the side, so there's no excuse if swimming isn't your thing.

Details of classes are available from Jo Munt at joanne.munt@swimstart.co.uk or telephone 213257.

JULIA LINDSEY

Belle Isle,

Haworth

SIR - I would like the people who are against Asda in Bradford Street to realise what it would mean to a lot of elderly people around that area.

I am warden at Emily Street sheltered housing and most of my residents are between 70-96 and cannot walk far and then only on the level and have to get someone to shop for them.

They would love to be able to take a short walk to look around and shop for themselves, as some of them never go out for weeks on end. I'm sure the town will not suffer. People will only shop where they want to.

JACKIE HURT

Emily Street,

Keighley

SIR - If the proposed Asda supermarket did have covered parking areas, at least for disabled and mother-and-baby customers, but did not have blaring music all the time, I would consider it a great asset to the town.

CATHERINE PAYTON

Heathcliff,

Haworth

SIR - The Keighley and Ilkley Tories are keeping up the act of never mentioning the name of our MP, Ann Cryer, in all their election literature, preferring the title "Mr Blair's representative".

In a previous letter, I pointed out that this shabby attitude takes no account of her excellent record as a constituency MP during the past eight years.

There is a further vital point: the on-going event of the last four years -- one which casts a shadow over all political arguments -- is the Iraq War.

Most people now regard Blair's decision to go along with President Bush as a tragic error, leaving many questions unanswered. But even before the war began, a group of Labour MPs spoke out in vain against such a rash and illegal action.

One of the Labour rebels was Ann Cryer. She deserves credit for this courageous and far-seeing gesture in defiance of Tony Blair in his Iraq adventure.

They are the people who deserve the label "Mr Blair's representatives".

For Keighley voters who conscientiously opposed the Iraq War, the choice at the election can only be between two candidates: Ann Cryer (Labour) or Nader Fekri (Lib Dem).

HAMISH HAY

Craven Avenue,

Silsden

SIR - I would like to thank all the magnificent volunteers who gave their time this month and proved that older people still have the passion to make a difference in their communities.

March was Older People Month for the Year of the Volunteer and across the country nearly 70 projects and events attracted new volunteers and helped to raise the profile of volunteering among the older generation.

In particular, there was a fantastic response to "The Big Knit" organised by CSV's Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP) and Age Concern.

Thousands of volunteer knitters across the UK got involved, using their needlework skills to make clothes for premature babies and knitting "trauma teddies" for distressed children, both at home and abroad.

It's fantastic that the achievements of older volunteers are being highlighted, making older people aware of the health benefits of being a volunteer and encouraging even more to give volunteering a go!

Denise Murphy

Director, CSV's Retired and

Senior Volunteer

Programme