Letters to the Editor

I live on New Works Road and well remember the Allied Colloids fire. We thought our time was up then and we all tried to close down that factory but our pleas fell on deaf ears and it was rebuilt.

Why? Because closing it would have put 2,000 people out of work. Neither the Council nor the Government wants that.

I have lived here all my life. I remember when the chemical firm was first built. My house was there before that was started up.

But I think the residents are missing the point - John Rigby's wire mill was built in the early 1800s in the middle of a field. The only houses around there at the time was Park House, which stands on the old gateway, and the vicarage for Holy Trinity which was where Wesley Avenue now stands.

So the wire mill was there first. The residents knew it was there before they purchased their homes, so why did they come to Low Moor in the first place?

J Brown, New Works Road, Low Moor, Bradford.

SIR - With reference to the letter Language Truths (T&A, August 8) I note Councillor Ward's comments with interest.

Nick Carroll, the original letter writer, promulgated a particular point of view which could hardly be called unreasonable. Events over the last 40 years have resulted in a large and significantly increasing Asian population, many of whom have or are showing a disinclination to learn, master and use the host language of their adoptive country.

You may or may not agree with Mr Carroll's prognosis, but if the language used by Coun Ward is representative of the level of debate in the Council chamber, then one can assume that this desperate city has the level of representation it truly deserves.

Alan K Biggin, Bostocks Boyce Welch, The Business and Innovation Centre, University Precinct, Listerhills, Bradford.

SIR - I am becoming increasingly dismayed at the amount of littering and fly-tipping that occurs in Bradford. It is an absolutely disgusting eyesore, not to mention health hazard, and beggars belief.

I must try harder to dump rubbish in a lane or lay-by than put it in a bin. In the area where I live (Manningham) the problem is particularly bad on the public footpath adjacent to Bolton Royd College, leading from Manningham Lane to Parkfield Road, as well as at the bottom corner of Parkfield Road itself.

The problem is obviously exacerbated and perpetuated through ignorance. Therefore we need to educate people besides providing greater facilities for recycling, for instance.

There is also a need for greater policing and it would be good to see more prosecutions for these types of offences. I have, on occasion, reprimanded a culprit, only to be met by a stream of abuse.

Trevor N Wood, Parkfield Road, Manningham.

SIR - It is outrageous that Bradford Council, having by its own admission neglected Wagon Lane, Bingley, refuses to pay a just claim for damage caused by a pothole (T&A, August 7).

A spokesman says repairs are being postponed until a bypass is built. Apparently council insurers will not settle because reasonable efforts were made to keep the road "in a safe and fit condition".

What nonsense! The Council is patently liable. Pay up and sack those Scrooge-like insurers.

T Atkins, Lynton Drive, Keighley.

SIR - My local library (Wyke) has a wonderful, friendly staff and it is always a pleasure to go into it. However, they are as frustrated as the regular library users (who are getting fewer and fewer) because we have read just about every book on the shelves.

Some of these books were on the shelves long before I started to use the library nine years ago.

Get rid of the old books; replace them with hundreds (nay thousands) of new ones and watch the libraries become popular again.

Why open on a Sunday? If it is almost impossible to get new books to read on the other six days of the week, opening on the seventh will make no difference.

Spend the money for overtime, lighting, heating etc on books to read instead.

That's all we want, and all we have wanted for a decade.

Mike Stocks, The Coppies, Delph Hill, Wyke