Skipton lorry ban should spread to Settle

Settle is now exclusively noisy and really quite dangerous - especially for elderly pedestrians and children, dominated as it is by heavy quarry lorries for 12 hours a day.

There is also an ever-increasing number of delivery vans, of which the majority simply use the town as a short cut to their further destinations.

Recently, after many years of local council debate, quarry lorries are now required to begin their passage through the town no earlier than 5.30am, which is a clear indication of the problem and of local inability to resolve it.

It is nearly seven years since 1,000 local residents signed a petition, sent to Mr Bill Isherwood of North Yorkshire Highways Department, pleading for greater restrictions to be imposed upon heavy lorries passing through the town. Since then the traffic has increased alarmingly.

In Skipton, heavy lorries have now been banned through the town. Why, oh why, cannot the same restrictions be imposed here in Settle, where a splendid bypass has been available for many years?

A group of residents with the motto "peace in our town" has been meeting seriously to consider what more can be done to impress upon those with the authority and powers to make necessary changes to take action without further delay.

Our first action is to organise a protest walk into the town centre from two points - the Falcon Manor car park and the War Memorial garden - on Tuesday October 28, starting to walk at 10.30am.

Posters will be on display, leaflets handed out and names taken on a petition.

I plead with all Settle people who are fit enough and free at this time to join in the walk and as it is the school's half term holiday I hope parents will bring their children along (they will love it!)

The walk will be absolutely safe as the police sergeant has very kindly made a police van to be available at the rear of each group, with its rear lights flashing to prohibit any vehicle overtaking.

Please, please let us use this unique opportunity to make our deep concerns known - and I sincerely hope that the extra expense to independent lorry drivers of using the bypass will be reimbursed by those who provide and receive their freight.

James Richardson,

Settle

Price of freedom

SIR - There was a lot of interest made of the service for the Iraq war, including whether the Prime Minister should have attended and interviews with the families of the servicemen and women who lost their lives.

Let me please say before I'm howled down in protest I do have every sympathy with the families and loved ones that grieve for them.

I served with the Green Howards and I lost many of my friends in the conflict in Northern Ireland; comrades I considered my brothers, yes brothers, in arms but we were as close as any family.

Anyone who has served will know what I mean when you have lived, socialised, fought and in some cases died together.

You have a bond as strong as any family. You have been a shoulder to cry on when you've had a dear john or break up of a marriage.

However I find it hard to go along with all this hand wringing over the Iraq war. We lost 51 - even one is a terrible loss; but these were servicemen who wanted to serve their country and even more their unit, be it Army, Navy or Air Force.

They would not have wanted to be left behind while their mates were serving over there.

I was sent to Belfast in 1971 aged 18. I didn't know whether it was right or wrong for the British Army to be there. I didn't question the Government's reasons for committing the Army in 1969, but I know that if we hadn't have been there many more thousands would have died. The same in Bosnia and what about the action in Kosova to help the Moslems?

Iraq in the end was just the same. Many thousands had been murdered by the regime and many thousands still to be located and given a decent burial.

I believe it was right to go and rescue these people from even worse torture. The regime had already used gas and biological weapons against their own people. I know I've gone off the subject a little but what I was trying to say is let's please put it in perspective.

We lost 51 of our servicemen for the chance of freedom - a small price, I believe.

ES Atkinson,

Skipton.

East end snubbed

SIR - I have waited a considerable time before I have committed my egalitarian opinion to paper in my determined effort to confront an issue.

That is, the apparently snubbed "East end of Skipton", where I now reside along with many other responsible residents..

I came to live in Skipton in the firm conviction that its council placed more emphasis on the local, caring and, very importantly, responsible duties associated with the most basic problems that councils face nationwide: that is clearing of litter and general maintenance of pedestrian surfaces and walls.

However, I am sad to say, that as I have walked some of the streets in Skipton, it is difficult not to notice the non-emphasis the council has, very apparently, placed on dealing with these fundamental tasks -particularly on the Keighley Road side of town.

I shall not be boring and list them all, for the council departments know what they are consciously ignoring, to their own chagrin.

However, suffice it to say that if I was driving to Skipton for the very first time, the sights that do hit one in the face are glaringly evident:

The decrepit state of the verges and the bus stop near the Horse Close bridge; the area that faces the railway before the railway bridge and adjacent to the canal is a true leprous scar; the unmistakably visible, yet blindly ignored, toxic and dangerous state of the pathways beneath the bridge (this is due to the pigeons that nest there every spring); the streets of Greatwood and Horse Close are more often than not unclean; Sackville Street and canal bridge is more often than not embarrassingly dirty with waste rubbish; the bus station is always an eyesore to residents and visitors alike.

I am loath to compare efforts with adjacent councils, but....

But come on Craven Council, show some pride in your duty. For we residents, over here in the "black sheep end" of Skipton also pay council tax and want to be proud again to live in Skipton.

All I ask is that you improve your service responsibility, and recognise a need to acknowledge the decisions you seem to have shirked, for at least a year.

The limb that is left to gangrene normally has to be cut off, and that would be a sad indictment on yourselves and a very poor response to the residents of the periphery of town.

Mr DN Wright,

Sharphaw Avenue, Skipton

Too much to pay

SIR - The Government has warned that it "will not stump up any extra cash to put more police on the streets of West Yorkshire" according to the Yorkshire Evening Post of October 16. And North Yorkshire?

For many in Craven, Pendle and elsewhere in our area last year's local council tax was too much.

In some cases the monthly tax bill equals a week's basic pension, 25 per cent of one's income!

A local income tax, proposed over 40 years ago, might be one way forward. Our local councils need, with the utmost urgency, to unite with other councils throughout England to liberate more of our money from central government in Westminster .

The billions spent on bailing out failing, often foreign owned, privatised companies, note the railways, and the billions spent on Blair's illegal war on Iraq, supporting a foreign power, namely the United States, would have provided necessary millions for our communities - money to spend on Skipton's renaissance and on other projects in our region; cash to improve our transport, our schools and hospitals, to clean up our streets, plus a dozen other schemes.

Skipton either goes forward into the mid 21st century or it stagnates and goes into reverse. The regeneration process demands the involvement of the entire community through meetings, street, school and workplace events.

A regular council market stall in the High Street would be a simple step forward.

Brian Ormondroyd

Brindley Court, Skipton.

Let's go it alone

SIR - Having endured a number of reports over the past month or so about the impending local government reorganisation affecting Craven and North Yorkshire, I feel that I must now speak out against the ignorance of Craven District councillors for voting to go in with Harrogate, whilst North Yorkshire County Council suggests the even worse prospect of a unitary authority approaching the size of a small country!

Do our elected members not know how local government is run elsewhere in the UK?

The tiny county of Rutland, with a population of just 32,000, is a unitary authority and thus responsible for all local services from street cleansing and recycling through to education and social services.

Despite its relatively small size, it has managed to run its affairs very well for many years now, proving to critics that large councils are definitely not a necessary evil in a modern world.

Craven, by comparison, has a population that is fast approaching 60,000, almost double that of Rutland, so why is it the case that our district councillors do not have the confidence that we too should be calling for unitary status?

This is even more surprising when you consider that Craven District Council did campaign for exactly that during the last local government review.

Craven itself is a vast geographical expanse and hardly "local" in the human sense of the word, but to go down the other route of setting up even more remote elected structures will be just plain disastrous and create a monstrosity that will be entirely out of touch with local people.

So write to your district and county councillors and tell them to campaign for a unitary Craven District Council!

John Crewdson

Langcliffe, Settle.

Bored of hunting

SIR - In response to the letter questioning the figures given on Countryside Alliance posters, can I suggest that the posters should read: 59 per cent of the public know little about hunting, are enormously bored of the subject and think that it is a shocking waste of Parliamentary time!

And for those who are not in my perception of the 59 per cent, and do feel strongly against the matter, can I suggest you make a rational non-biased decision based on your own findings and not those told to you by either side of the debate or any form of media.

Simply visit a kennels, spend a day on foot in our beautiful countryside watching hounds work and talk to the myriad of people who are involved in this activity.

Next, consider other animal welfare issues affecting all sorts of animals in the UK including the alternative non-disciminatory methods of fox control (gassing, snaring, poisoning and shooting). Question: Which are deserving and important welfare issues or just the easiest to pick on and likely to placate a few voters?

Ultimately, the final research exercise is to measure this issue against the other issues affecting our wider society.

Now, ask yourself what should really be occupying our politicians, our protesters and our animal welfare charities.

Charlie Reynard,

Gargrave Road, Skipton.

Simple figures

SIR - In response to the letter posed by Katie and Josie Timmins: The figure of 59 per cent who said "keep hunting" came from an NOP poll when 18 per cent agreed with the statement that "hunting should be allowed to continue as it is now because it is essentially a matter of civil liberties".

Forty one per cent of those questioned agreed with the statement that "allowing hunting to continue under regulation would strike a balance between civil liberties and animal welfare".

Therefore, 59 per cent say "Keep hunting".

It is as simple as that.

SEB Clowes,

Lawkland Green, Austwick.

Pride and passion

SIR - At last an English team that could sing the National Anthem.

The rugby union team sang with pride on Saturday. Don't our football team know the words?

Please send them a copy of the words. Even if they lose, they can be proud of their country.

M Wilkinson,

Hall Avenue,

Sutton-in-Craven.

Crash, bang

SIR - When are our local councils, and indeed the Government, going to get to grips with the problem we have year in, year out with the letting off of fireworks weeks before (and after) Bonfire Night?

It seems ludicrous to me that we class knives and firearms as offensive weapons, yet explosives in the guise of fireworks are readily on sale throughout the year and many shopkeepers appear to be irresponsibly selling them to young children, thus flaunting the law.

Last night around our local area there was a constant barrage of bangers and it starts every day from early afternoon.

Noise aside, there's the criminal damage aspect, eg throwing fireworks into rubbish bins, telephone kiosks and at people. And how do these kids afford it day in, day out?

Of course, as soon as a child has a hand blown off or is blinded, it will be on the front page of the local papers, with the parents asking when something is going to be done about the sale of fireworks.

Mrs W Wolstenholme,

Kestrel Mount, Bradford.

No trees

SIR - Long Preston adjoins the National Park with its commendable tree planting policy but, as a regular visitor to the area, I am amazed to note that there seems to be so little planning for green spaces and trees amongst the new estate at the Old Auction Mart.

The new detached houses are obviously upmarket but I can see no evidence within the crammed buildings of any breaks for green areas of grass and trees as they are such a delightful feature in the older parts of the village.

Why is it not possible for the planners to insist that open layouts are essential planning policy in such an environment? This would help make the new village extensions as attractive to live in as the old original village development.

High density housing without some simple amenities of space and the joy of trees is just kowtowing to money grubbing developers to cram in yet another couple of houses and should not be tolerated.

Ann Thomas,

The Ridge,

Tarbert, Argyll.