Letters to the Editor

But more than £1 million is to be spent on a white elephant, a thieves' highway and a paedophiles' paradise: The proposed leisure trail between Queensbury and Cullingworth along the old railway track.

White elephant? Well I think it will be little used. There are no parking facilities at either end and although there are toilets in Cullingworth, it is likely these will be closed because of the silly EU regulation that they must incorporate facilities for the disabled.

Thieves' highway? Well I see this as a quick access and getaway for thieves.

Paedophiles' paradise? Well the people who have been pushing for the route suggest that children could use it as a route to school. Apart from the fact that it would be appropriate for very few children, no parent these days would let a child walk along such a lonely route.

And as for the proposed paddling pool around City Hall, well, for sure, that money could be better spent.

Peter A Rushforth, Sutton Drive, Cullingworth.

SIR - Much was made recently about the appointment of the new Council chief, a person who would command a very large salary but in return will bounce Bradford back to a cosmopolitan northern city.

So what has happened? It seems to have gone very quiet. Is some "Harvey Jones" coming or not? From my understanding, the position is being filled by the deputy for the foreseeable future. Did our wonderful leaders not think to ask this person before advertising in the national newspapers?

How much has all the interviewing, advertising, testing and travelling cost? Based on what seems to have been an ill-thought campaign to a point, who will come clean and admit it was a total waste?

A good organiser and leader would be totally at odds with our local Council. Which bakery was that bun fight at? I hope I'm not too late.

Philip Hartley, Tunwell Lane, Eccleshill.

SIR - With regard to Shipley MP Christopher Leslie's letter (T&A, October 15), the facts are he was a member of the controlling Labour group on Bradford Council which, in January 1998, voted through the Unitary Development Plan.

This plan is currently in force and identifies the Baildon Bank reservoir site as potential housing land.

I am not aware of Mr Leslie dissenting publicly at that time. I cannot, for example, recall his voting against his group's line. As the lawyers say, "Silence betokens consent."

If Mr Leslie has any evidence of his effective opposition to the Baildon Bank designation in January 1998 I would be happy to consider it. The bald assertion in his letter is inadequate.

Could I also point out that I was not alone in voting (albeit very reluctantly) for approval of the outline application last month. A Labour member of the panel also voted for approval.

The fact that Mr Leslie is not seeking to hound Coun Malcolm Slater in his Keighley North Ward is a sure indication that Mr Leslie's motivations are purely political and self-serving.

Councillor John Cole, (Lib Dem, Baildon), Oakroyd Terrace, Baildon

SIR - Shipley MP Chris Leslie accused me of "smearing" him over the Baildon Bank reservoir site planning permission issue (Letters, October 15).

I merely pointed out that this land was approved for development by a Labour-controlled Bradford Council of which he was a member and that, later, a government inspector from the department where Mr Leslie was a minister instructed the current Council that, because of that, they had no practical option but to agree to planning permission.

If this is a lie Mr Leslie can sue me. If he does not, the people of Baildon will know I am telling the truth. Either Mr Leslie has made a sudden conversion to protecting this land from housing or he was so ineffective nobody listened to him.

Too much building takes place on greenfield sites and nobody is more disappointed than I to see this land given planning permission but the current councillors had been left no choice by Mr Leslie and his cronies.

Telling the truth is clearly a "smear" in the world of New Labour.

Philip Davies, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Shipley, Hartlington Court, Baildon

SIR - I agree with Iftikhar Ahmad (Letters, October 14) regarding the "honour killing" murder by the enraged father of his daughter. It was indeed tragic.

I disagree that it could have been avoided had she attended a Muslim school. The girl refused indoctrination and fell in love with a Lebanese Christian, a human being like Mr Ahmad, just a different religion. Was it so wrong as to merit death?

It is impossible to educate the heart but not to indoctrinate others into believing damnation awaits should they have different views to those who cling to archaic traditions.

N Manley, Blakehill Terrace, Bradford 2

SIR - Matthew Morley has got it all wrong when he says "religion IS reason" (Letters, October 13). Religion is based on faith, which my dictionary defines as "strong belief without proof", so it cannot be based on reason.

Creationism is based on the creation myths of primitive people handed down verbally until the evolution of writing enabled them to be written and so become "holy writ".

Evolution is the basis of all serious research in biology. All science confirms its truth. Geology shows the vast age of the earth; physics confirms it with radioactive dating; genetics has shown how different species are related by examining their DNA and anthropology has given us the solid evidence of the bones of our hominid ancestors.

Creationists are those who cannot be reasoned out of either a lifetime of brainwashing or have fallen into the hands of fundamentalist sects when they leave home. These sects make a special target of school-leavers entering higher education.

Robert Tee, Honorary Secretary, Humanist Society of West Yorkshire, Foxholes Crescent, Calverley.

SIR - I am incensed! Police, where are they? A policewoman was shopping in Tesco on a Saturday afternoon in full uniform, so she was obviously on duty. And how does she get to the supermarket? In her police vehicle which, I hasten to add, was parked in a disabled parking space.

So, people of Bradford, the next time you call the police and they cannot respond, ring your local supermarket and ask them politely if there are any officers on the premises and if they would mind chasing some criminals for us.

Derrick Hodgson, Station Road, Clayton.

l A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Clearly we are concerned about the allegations made. However, we would like further information about the incident and the letter writer is encouraged to contact us to discuss the matter further."

SIR - Mr Holmes of New South Wales states that the Australian birds I compared the Lib Dems to were in fact silver-crested cockatoos, not galahs (Letters, October 14). The birds that alighted on my tree in the Perth suburb of Mosman Park, two and a quarter thousand miles from his area, were pink and grey. The locals called them galahs. Many were kept as pets because they make excellent speakers.

Eric Firth, Wellington Street, Wilsden.

Sir - Whatever Ms Mubarik Iqbal thinks about America and the West, with all our faults (Letters, October 14) at least we do represent progress. Think of the advances in technology in the last 100 years, such as transport, communications, medicine and so on, most of which originated in the West. Some Muslim states appear not to have advanced much beyond the Middle Ages.

C R Meeke, Albert Avenue, Idle.