Power bills are a source of worry

Craven Citizen's Advice Bureau sees many clients who have had similar difficulties.

We are always happy to try and help people sort their problems out with their utility suppliers (even to the extent of listening to the Commodores on their behalf!)

But it may take many phone calls and letters before the client has resolved their problem.

In the last year Craven CAB has dealt with over 300 enquiries on utility bills and suppliers.

Some handy hints for switching suppliers are:

Energy Watch has lots of useful information available on switching suppliers and things to watch out for.

If you have problems with your change over it is always possible to make a formal complaint either to the suppliers in the first instance or if all else fails to Energy Watch itself.

All suppliers should publish details of their complaints procedures.

If you have changed by accident then there is a special charter called the Erroneous Transfer Customer Charter. This is available from Energywatch.

There is also a new scheme whereby pensioners and people with disabilities can sign up for a scheme offering free gas safety checks, emergency heating in power cuts and protection against bogus callers. The scheme is called the 'Priority Services Register' and further information can be obtained from Energy Watch.

Energy Watch contact details are:

Website: energywatch.org.uk; phone on: 0845 906 0708; fax: 020 7799 8341; minicom: 0845 758 1401.

Craven CAB is situated at St Andrews Church Hall, Skipton and is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 9.30-11.30am, at Settle Health Centre Mondays 10-2pm; at Bentham Surgery every other Wednesday 1.30-3.30 pm and at Ingleborough Community Centre on the last Wednesday in the month 10-12 noon.

Erica Cadbury,

Manager, Craven Citizens' Advice Bureau.

SIR - The contract was due for renewal. Simply tell us which tariff you prefer.

A phone call clarified differences and a choice was made. Imagine my surprise when a letter arrived stating, "We're sorry you're leaving British Gas." I didn't know we were.

Another phone call and a letter gave reassurance. "I am sorry if this caused you any confusion. However, I can assure you that your supply remains with British Gas." Right. Here began a saga which though now resolved may yet have a sequel.

After 15 weeks, innumerable letters, e-mails, faxes and frustrating telephone calls I am beginning to claim some knowledge of the workings of this energy industry (alias Centrica).

British Gas has blown itself up and dispersed to all corners of the UK.

Leicester deals with correspondence and new accounts; Cardiff has some connection with meters but Redcar and Middlesbrough accommodate meter reading teams; Windsor is the Registered Office; Camberley accepts cheque payments; and Oxford is the pride and joy of the Credit Control Department.

There may be no reason to assimilate these addresses unless a jinx gets into the computer - as it did. After a smooth six months, bills began to arrive monthly instead of quarterly, always estimated because the man on his bike has retired and meter readers are multi-tasking so cannot wait to be conscientious and efficient.

But more deadly than this was the VAT rate, suddenly raised from 5 per cent to 171/2 per cent, thus triggering a climate levy (a Government imposed tax on which VAT is also payable making a double tax!)

Thankful that I had persisted in avoiding direct debits, I communicated with British Gas at all known addresses and waited for it to be sorted out.

The account was in such a muddle I dared not make a further payment until it was. Unlike the first letter way back in November, these later missives brought a response.

The computer appears to keep all departments informed but does not authorise any human being to sort out problems. Credit Control continued to call me at five-day intervals. With 12 employees I was getting on to second chats with some of them though I am still at a loss to understand why Credit Control has no idea who is generating invoices.

I needed to sign a VAT declaration form which was promptly returned to Middlesbrough as requested and subsequently disappeared from the face of the earth. A second one was faxed to Oxford as requested and I never heard the fate of that one.

When the computer spewed out the disconnection threat and £50 administration invoice, patience was at a low ebb. Ofgem had passed my first letter to Energywatch so I wrote to the latter again but think they must be on another planet as no response has been received to date.

My tips for frustrated customers:

* Always check your bills.

* Never press buttons on a Touchtone phone - Wait for a sign of life.

* Do not succumb to direct debits. Your bank balance stays intact.

* Be polite and enjoy the friendly chats with Credit Control.

* Bombard Leicester and Oxford with letters and forget the rest.

*Do a maths course and calculate the bill yourself. British Gas accepted my offer.

Rita Barsby,

Uplands, Skipton.

SIR - I entirely agree with Margaret Carr whose letter appeared in the Craven Herald last week in regard to Skipton High Street market.

It should be an indoor market on a central site presently used as a car park.

As an 'offcumden' it has always puzzzled me that the open air market was ever allowed to clog up the High Street for most of the week.

Even on non-market days the free parking on the setts impedes movement of traffic and pedestrians.

We are lucky to have a lovely wide High Street which could be Skipton's most attractive feature, with wide walking space, street cafes, lots of seating, flower beds and even a platform for musicians or dancers.

Of course the old setts (to blame for ankle injuries) should be covered with tarmac - which our ancestors would have used if it had been invented then. An important part of new High Street is lots of trees set in well-manured rootbeds to replace the existing puny trees which are due to be removed by the council.

So, let's make these changes as part of the Skipton Renaissance programme and give us a town centre we can be proud of.

Geoff Hoyle,

Burnside Crescent, Skipton.

SIR - I refer to the letter 'Food For Thought' in last week's Craven Herald taking you to task for calling biscuits 'cookies'.

I have always understood that biscuits are crisp and thin and made by rolling the dough flat and cutting it with pastry cutters, or forming the dough into a long roll and slicing it thinly.

Cookies on the other hand are made from a moister mixture which is placed on the baking sheet in small lumps to produce a thicker, sometimes less crisp, result. Neither is typically English or American.

Olive Payne,

Marton Close, Gargrave.

SIR - This is an open letter I have sent to Craven District councillors.

Although I chair the Skipton Renaissance Team, I write this note in a personal capacity.

I understand that the members of Craven District Council will shortly be asked to progress the plans drawn up by GVA Grimley for the development of some of the council's assets. These plans are seen as the implementation phase of the Yorkshire Forward Renaissance Market Town project. I would question this.

The Renaissance Vision did identify CDC car parks for development. However, the model was the 1991 prize-winning proposal drawn up by John Wharton for Millfields (off Coach Street).

It envisaged decked parking, retaining existing capacity, and mixed development on the scale of the surrounding area.

The RMT Team suggested car-parking development at the railway station, over the Ilkley line platforms. The John Thompson team were keen to see the bus station relocated to the railway station, but at the time the plans were well advanced, so it was left where it was.

Given delays over the bus station, relocation is a possibility that might be pursued with the new rail franchise holder.

The Vision did hint at partnership working with the superstores.

The lie of the land for Tesco and Focus car parks makes decked parking commercially and visually viable. There is also, potentially, a need to supply car parking for commuters. The Vision suggested the development of peripheral parking, possibly by the auction mart.

Nowhere in the Vision is a multi-storey car park mentioned; though the building of a multi-storey car park on the Cavendish Street site has long been mooted in Skipton. (I would remark that in Shrewsbury a similarly sited multi-storey has been demolished.)

It would be a traffic magnet yet NYCC's traffic management strategy aims to reduce cross-town traffic. The present arrangement of car parks, suitably priced, serves this.

Skipton has developed incrementally. Its success owes much to the robustness of Craven District Council's planning department and the good sense of members.

The Vision is long term. The Dewhurst Mill development will significantly alter Skipton. The Cavendish Street-Waller Hill-Christ Church area is a clear focus for development. Surely it is better to continue to open up the canal-side and develop on a human scale?

The Renaissance Vision has much to commend it - if developed with care.

Mike Doyle,

Bright Street, Skipton.

SIR - The Craven Herald did the right thing by reporting the suspicion that local councillors expressed about invading the national park villages with the £10 million Skipton Building Society "affordable housing scheme".

There should be a proper survey to discover how much or how little such out of town buildings serve locals and are owned by locals.

Then there is the slating of the A65 and A69 for being at the top of the list of dangerous roads. Whether they are or not, the fault is too many straight stretches where cars can accelerate to top speed so that when accidents do occur they are lethal.

A probably true example being more deaths resulted in Skipton, Addingham, Settle and other bypasses in the first years after construction than in the many decades before they were built.

The cure should be slower roads with passing places for slower vehicles to pull into and car sharing schemes.

What the complaints are all about is the potential the Yorkshire Dales has for the finance industries if the still intended five motorways could be launched. Now the Bingley bypass has opened to let London to Scotland traffic short cut from the M1 to the M6. Anywhere else in Britain and the five motorways would be there already!

Hence the reason why those councillors and the rest of us should never trust those promoting these big money schemes and must keep up their good work trying to promote the future transport.

Bob Leakey,

Sutcliffe House, Giggleswick.

SIR - I read with satisfaction the article (Craven Herald February 25) on the restoration of the Skipton Town war memorial and that the council has at last decided to go for the full, as far as possible, restoration of the cenotaph.

You mention the copper staining from the angel on top of the memorial. Years ago the surveyor and engineer to Skipton Urban District Council, from 1937 until about 1970, said that this was a statue of Eros, the Greek god of love, and a replica of the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus.

Stanley Phillips

Keighley Road, Skipton.

SIR - I write regarding the possible closure of Grassington library.

Having written to Northallerton, from where I received an obviously standard reply, it has been suggested that the Craven Herald might be a better arena.

We are aware that our branch is small and not state of the art but it is there for those who work and want to change their books in the evening, or morning and afternoon to fit in with village shopping.

Now we even have one session with a ramp, so those having problems with the two steps can be accommodated in the mobile. Our library has served us well for more years than we remember.

Mrs M Doubtfire,

Station Road, Threshfield.