Letters to the Editor

SIR, - How long are the people of Yeadon to be misled by the Yeadon Town Hall Users Group?

How long is this group going to trot out the unsubstantiated nonsense that Yeadon Town Hall is to be taken over by Otley Town Council? Where is their evidence?

If their fears are based on Otley Town Council having controls over the proposed new Otley and Yeadon council ward, and therefore the town hall, then surely this will be the case in the Otley and Wharfedale ward where the town of Otley is at present.

Besides Otley, that ward contains the villages of Bramhope, Pool and Arthington. Does Otley Town Council have any control over these villages? None whatsoever.

In that case why would they have control over that part of Yeadon included in the Otley and Yeadon ward, bearing in mind that part of Yeadon probably has three times as many voters.

I, too, attended a meeting of the Town Hall Users, where in attendance were two Conservative Otley city councillors, one of whom was the Mayor of Otley. He stated categorically that Otley Town Council had no interest in controlling the town hall, nor had they the power if they so wished.

Otley Town Council is accurately named - a council for the town of Otley.

Otley Town Council put forward submissions to the Boundary Committee for England regarding their ward boundary. They put forward internal changes to two of their wards and increasement of the number of town councillors in Otley.

The final sentence of their proposal states: "Our proposed city warding arrangements would result in no change to this area," that is the town council boundary.

The Boundary Committee's recommendation was that there should be 20 town councillors.

The Boundary Committee did not recommend that wards should be formed in Yeadon, electing 'x' number of councillors and henceforth it would be known as the Otley and bigger bit of Yeadon Town Council and Otley has not asked for them.

Whatever your views and thoughts, the only matter of importance is that the people of Yeadon are given a definitive answer to the question and I would have thought that this would not have presented any difficulty for the three Aireborough ward councillors to achieve.

I am certain the answer is to be found with a council official who can give chapter and verse as to the powers and geographic area of control of Otley Town Council. Then the problem is resolved and this misleading can cease.

Rick Lamb

Park Grove,

Yeadon.

Strong feelings

SIR, - I have read with interest the letters in last week's Wharfedale and Airedale Observer about the Boundary Commission's proposal to carve Yeadon up. I would urge people to write to the Boundary Commission pointing out the reason that we, the people of Yeadon, feel so strongly about this.

The main issues are that we are not informed, in any way, of their decision. This notice should have been displayed in all local libraries and it was not. The next and very important thing is that Yeadon Town Hall will actually be included in Otley if the suggested proposals come to pass.

Yeadon Town Hall was built for the community of Aireborough and over the past number of years local people have worked hard to keep the interior in the excellent state it is today. I refer to the Town Hall Users Group and their many loyal supporters.

Otley councillors say that they are not interested in our town hall so are they being presumptuous in already trying to book the hall for their surgeries or do they know something that we don't.

There is a public meeting at Yeadon Town Hall on Saturday, August 30, and it is important that as many people as possible attend. The meeting is at 10am. We must act now before it is too late.

Mary Sloan

Barfield Drive,

Yeadon.

No consultation

SIR, - With reference to the electoral boundary changes proposed for Aireborough. The Aireborough Civic Society, like many other societies, local groups and residents,were not aware of any changes to electoral boundaries until after the end of the consultation period.

The boundary review states that it looks to local authorities to lead local consultation in each area. As there has been no consultation exercises carried out by the city council, ward and town councils, should it not be considered as null and void for failing to comply with guidance by the Electoral Commission with regard to holding public meetings to test the feelings of residents?

We have in our letter to the Electoral Commission complaining of the lack of consultation with local residents, recommended, if the commission feels there is need for changes to the electoral boundary of Aireborough that it suspend its decision on any proposed changes to Aireborough until local councillors have consulted with local residents on their feelings to any proposed changes; or leave the boundaries as they are until the next review of electoral boundaries. Like Mr Peel's letter in last week's 'Wharfedale', we strongly recommend that the people of Yeadon should write to the Electoral Commission to complain about the lack of consultation on the boundary changes.

The address to write to is: The Secretary, Electoral Commission, Trevelyan House, 30 Great Peter Street, London SW1P 2HW.

Peter Middleton

Chairman,

Aireborough Civic Society,

Anville, Moorlands Drive,

Yeadon.

Lib-Dem support

SIR, - It was most refreshing to read, in your newspaper, that Coun Cleasby was actually supporting the Conservative initiatives to consider parish councils in the various splintered parts of Aireborough and other parts of North Leeds.

Coun Latty has for some time expounded the potential benefits of such bodies and it was myself who suggested Rawdon should consider the merits of its own parish council.

The decision to retain Horsforth in one council ward is of course most welcome. Suggestions of a division were only ever driven by a numerical imperative imposed by the Boundary Committee, which appears to have chosen to largely ignore its own guidelines.

Indeed it is astonishing that the committee has proposed the borders it has. A cynic might observe that there is a pattern, across Leeds, of concentrating non-Labour voters into a small number of wards.

The same cynic would be forgiven for thinking that Horsforth, a Lib-Dem/Conservative marginal, was unaffected because its Labour vote is insignificant. The cynical view might observe that the definition of a community appears to be determined more by historical voting patterns than by any traditional community ties.

Had proposers of boundary schemes been given such lattitude, proposals would have been far different and, with such scope for variation, all our communities could have been accommodated without division.

Putting cynicism aside, the decision of the commission is all but finalised and those of us with an active interest in communities across north Leeds recognise the need to move on.

Horsforth is fortunate, it has both a town council and a city council ward which, although shared with parts of Rawdon, does not split its own boundary. Other communities have fared less well.

I have already started to gather opinion in the parts of Rawdon currently within the Horsforth Ward. If that opinion proves in favour of a parish council for Rawdon, the other parts of the village will be similarly consulted.

Conservative philosophy does not support unnecessary layers of Government, but, faced with a Labour-run city council which concentrates its efforts and our money in favoured inner city wards, something must be done.

If a parish council is supported, then Conservatives will no doubt lead the way in its establishment. I hope Coun Cleasby's support proves to be more than just easy rhetoric for media consumption.

Neil Hunt

Chairman,

Horsforth and Rawdon Ward,

Pudsey Conservative Association.

College pledge

SIR, - My colleagues responsible for the adult education service in Otley, provided by Park Lane College, are concerned that some Wharfedale people continue to fear disruption of that service by Sainsbury's proposed plan to build a new supermarket in the town.

I am concerned to dispel such fears and would like to repeat, through your newspaper, my recent assurances that my staff and I are fully committed to continuing with our very popular and successful programme at the Otley centre.

Indeed, we have every intention of making further efforts to develop the range and quality of what we offer at the current centre on Bondgate as part of a process of ongoing improvement.

As matters stand, there is little likelihood that we shall be required to move from our current premises on Bondgate for a further year, at least, and as we prepare to launch our new programme for September, we are very much in 'business as usual' mode at Bondgate.

TONY LONGWORTH

Principal,

Park Lane College,

Otley.

Firework plea

SIR,- This is an open letter to Anne Cryer and Christopher Leslie, MPs for this district. When are you going to do something about the ever increasing nuisance of fireworks?

We are being subjected to the damned nuisance almost every Saturday night, upsetting dogs, cats, horses and old folks. Do something about it or you will be kicked into touch come next election.

D. ASCOUGH

Wrexham Road

Burley-in-Wharfedale.