Letters to the Editor

But first, will the Council take issue with the so-called Highways Agency and the contractors who are causing havoc across the city?

I can report roadworks on every major route in or out of the city when I tried to drive around Bradford on Wednesday. It seems contractors can simply dig up any road at will, without any thought about how this will affect traffic congestion.

When you try to point this out to the highways department they patronise you as usual and say they try their best to keep roads open. If that's their best, then heads should roll.

It's not rocket science: have one major control point to authorise when and where roadworks take place.

Big plans are great but someone in authority must have the common sense to sort out this problem now - or will they continue to pass the buck?

Tony Sutcliffe, High Park Drive, Heaton.

SIR - The former Odeon Cinema is a superb edifice, very sound and certainly NOT crumbling, as has been suggested. It simply needs the gutters clearing of trees and vegetation and the frontages pressure cleaned.

It was opened on September 22, 1930 - the largest cinema at that time, with 3,318 seats plus a ballroom and restaurant. It has the finest example of 'Flemish bond' brickwork in the UK comprising over two million bricks coupled with two super domes and supports in white terracotta.

The Council has powers to compel the owners to clear the gutters of the trees which are now well-established. The overspill of rain water in winter is a danger to pedestrians, quite apart from the embarrassing appearance.

Please do not allow it to be demolished. Conversion costs would be minimal compared with demolition and then the building of some "glass boxes" in its place.

Don't forget, JB Priestley used to criticise the Council over the removal of buildings which could have been saved.

Norman E Littlewood, Pear Tree Wks, Woodside Road, Wyke.

SIR - I am a teenager who does not skate but I believe that the real problem for skateboarders who are said to be causing problems in Ilkley streets and other areas is that there are generally not enough places for young people to go.

Word has got round that Ilkley (where councillors are now considering banning skateboarding like most other places) is the only place you are allowed to skate apart from in Leeds so more and more people travel there.

People socialise at places where they can skate because otherwise young teenagers have few places to go at night.

They end up hanging around the streets and this occasionally results in mischief.

If other social areas were built for teenagers there would be fewer problems.

Lauren Tasker, Southway, Guiseley.

SIR - As a devotee of this superb old railway, I'm all for the wonderful plan to transform the former line between Queensbury and Cullingworth into a leisure trail.

But I am concerned about security at the Hewenden Viaduct and at Thornton, where vandals will have access when the path is not in use.

Hewenden Viaduct, which is 126 feet high and has 17 massive piers, has heavy steel gates at both ends and will need similar protection and constant manning.

If this project goes ahead - and I hope it does - we must not let troublemakers encroach on to people's property and privacy.

K Abbott, Parkside Terrace, Cullingworth.

SIR - Any respect I had for Christopher Leslie MP has been gradually eroded by his hissy outbursts and an all-too-familiar "not me guv - honest!" attitude to the development at Baildon Bank.

He is not only prepared to demean himself by deflecting the blame to the current councillors but he even has the audacity to accuse Tory prospective Parliament candidate Philip Davies of smears when Mr Leslie's apparent hypocrisy has been exposed by his likely successor.

The facts are that on two occasions, once as a prominent and vociferous local councillor and one as an influential MP in John Prescott's department, Mr Leslie had the opportunity to say, "No, this development is wrong. It must never go ahead."

David James, Fletton Terrace, Bradford 2.

SIR - After seeing the demise of the Lords brought about by Tony Blair and his gang, Iain Duncan Smith's farce of a staged speech of a lifetime and the many other mindless antics of the lesser parties - it is time we had a new one!

I propose to be the leader and my policies are to look after the indigenous population by: doubling the retirement pension; providing free bus passes to anywhere in the UK for retired people; stopping payments to asylum seekers; ending means testing; making education free for students; increasing education fees for outsiders; outlawing the Race Relations Act; making employers pay a living wage high enough for a family so the wife doesn't have to work; making water a non-profit commodity; stopping interference into private individuals' sports and pastimes; persecuting criminals rather than victims; stopping the judicial system being big business. And this is just the start!

So folks, if you agree with my policies, please vote for me at the next general election. My party? Yes, it's the Masochist Party and I can guarantee every voter a fair crack of the whip!

Trevor Williams-Berry, Bredon Avenue, Wrose, Shipley.

SIR - Before all your Labour writers bombard you with letters concerning Iain Duncan Smith, let them take into account that six Labour Ministers are listed as employing spouses, children and even mothers on the public payroll.

So why all the fuss about the leader of the Conservatives employing his wife?

A Clarke, Calverley Bridge, Rodley.

SIR - The regeneration plan for Bradford seems to ignore what the council should really be concentrating on: the education standards for the city are among the worst in the country.

The councillors appear to have more interest in creating a natural breeding ground for insects of many varieties. Have any of the planners considered building a new fever hospital as, with global warning increasing, the likelihood of malaria being introduced is not that far away? Sounds daft? Not as daft as the plans being proposed.

Get your heads from out of the clouds and start to appreciate the value of what is already in the city and enhance what you've got. Look at education and give the students and future students of the city something credible to look forward to.

Lastly, if the regeneration does get the nod, can I be first to request that the outlying areas of the district (Keighley, South Craven, Bingley, Shipley, Worth Valley) can opt out of Bradford's control. We are not all Bradfordians and will never be so.

Mark Batty, East Parade, Steeton.