Letters to the Editor

SIR, - I was delighted to read your comments in response to the report headlined 'Road safety critics are ratrunners' which appeared in your paper on June 5. I could not agree more with your comments.

I was utterly disgusted and incensed to read the comments of councillor Chris Greaves. I cannot believe that this man has the audacity to say that I, as a resident of Menston, should not be using the road through Burley Woodhead and instead should use the 'perfectly good' A65.

I was under the impression that when I paid £165 in road tax that I could drive along any road I saw fit, provided there was a legal access (of which there is on this particular road).

I am sure there are 127 people on the electoral register in this area; I used to be one of them, living close to the top of Moor Lane. I cannot believe that now I have moved my home to Menston I should have to find an alternative route to work, or put up with the insults of this councillor for using the 'moor road'.

I would also like to point out that the bypass to which the councillor refers in Addingham is without doubt one of the most dangerous roads in the area.

It defies belief that someone can justify spending the amount of money it must have taken to implement these absurdly titled 'traffic calming measures' (I was far from calm when I first encountered them!) when they cannot even put double white lines on the Addingham bypass to prevent people overtaking whilst travelling down the hill towards Ilkley - a hill which is as good as a blind bend.

I use both these roads at least twice a day, and whilst I see numerous incidents every week that almost lead to serious collisions on the Addingham bypass, I have never witnessed anything in Burley Woodhead that would resemble the carnage that could occur at Addingham.

JONATHAN CHAPMAN

The Coach House,

Main Street,

Menston.

'We're not rats'

SIR, - I comment on the traffic calming at Burley Woodhead and issues raised by councillor Chris Greaves in a report by Annette Wright on June 5.

I agree that some sort of traffic calming measures need to be implemented if drivers refuse to drive at a safe speed, but I feel the road humps could be smaller.

My husband and I travel through the village most days and we are certainly not 'rats'. We are human beings who happen to pay taxes, including road tax.

This gives us the right to use that road, and I suggest to Chris Greaves that he and others do not own the road. His comment about how many people are on the electoral roll and how many cars should be using this road would be funny if it were not so bigoted and selfish.

So, Mr Greaves, I will continue to use this road at a speed which I feel is safe, and most of the time that is well below 20 mph.

MARGARET PARKIN

61 Grove Road,

Ilkley.

Hump answers

SIR, - Mr Zanft wrote to you recently from his business address - is he ashamed of his home address? - making disparaging remarks about the local residents. Apparently, his business is in racing so I understand his alarm at being made to slow down, but this is not a Grand Prix circuit. Here are answers to his points:

1. The matter raised its head when the residents of Burley Woodhead, heartily sick of regular crashes, got together and with the help of Burley Community Council paid for an independent traffic survey to be carried out by a civil and structural design company in Leeds. The police became involved and the surveys were conducted in October and November 2000.

2. Burley Community Council called a public meeting in February 15, 2001 at Burley Methodist Hall to discuss the matter, and every resident received an invitation to attend. This is called democracy.

There was a massive turnout and residents heard the facts, together with recommendations. Everyone was in favour of some kind of action. A representative from the highways department was present along with some councillors.

3. Most of the attendees were motorists, so they were consulted as motorists as well as residents.

4. Traffic surveys, and I quote from the report following a full week of monitoring the three points in October and again in November 2000. Around 34,000 vehicles pass through this hamlet each week - a similar level to that which brought the Burley bypass.

A breakdown of speeds show the following speeds logged: 22,000 vehicles exceeded the 30mph limit and travelled up to 40mph; 2,271 at 40-45mph; 510 at 45-50mph; 147 at 50-55mph; 28 at 55-60mph; 19 at 60-65mph and 12 at 65mph or over.

The report stated that these tests were not carried out on the fastest stretch and also noted that October/November is a quieter and slower period because of poor driving conditions. Mr Zanft's statement that as the road is so narrow only a 'fool' would drive fast is quite correct, but unfortunately there are more than 22,000 'fools' per week speeding.

In addition, more than 700 goods vehicles travelled on the road. This figure has increased significantly since building began at Scalebor Park. The readings were taken at three points - Stockgate Farm to Eagles Nest, the Hermit Inn to Chapel House and the Hermit Inn to Plane Tree Farm.

4. I am not aware of the cost but I am sure, having read Mr Zanft's statement that we are all Conservatives, elite, enormously wealthy, influential and prestigious you will conclude that the costs have been paid for many times over by our taxes!

Clearly a socialist, I am amazed that his precious car is more important to him than human life. Several people up here do not even have a car and have to walk on that road daily in all weathers.

Regarding political affiliations, all six parish councillors in the Burley and Holme ward are independents and have no political ties.

Finally, and most noteworthy, the people most inconvenienced are the residents. We have to travel over the speed humps several times a day to get in and out.

CHRISTINE HILL

Councillor and resident,

Glen Cottage,

Burley Woodhead.

Chicane danger

SIR, - With regard to the traffic flow under Ben Rhydding railway station bridge, the only thing more dangerous than a public highway chicane is a chicane immediately after a blind bend. That is exactly the situation now created by Bradford Council.

Whereas vehicles used to approach cautiously from either direction and glide serenely past one another under the bridge, we are now witness to downhill drivers blindly 'gunning for the gap' to avoid being caught in the wrong position if traffic appears from around the bend.

I have personally recently experienced two near misses from downhill drivers judging it rather fine and I doubt that I am alone. There will be a head-on crash there soon and will Bradford Council accept responsibility?

DAVID GUILD

4 Parklands,

Ilkley.

Vigils finish

SIR, - We would like to thank the people of Ilkley and district for their support for our weekly Vigil for Peace on The Grove and for signing petitions against the war on Iraq, and later in asking for help for the people of Iraq to recover from the effects of the war.

Our collections for the Red Cross and UNICEF were also well supported and we are grateful.

As the issues we have been raising are now very largely covered by the news media, we have decided to suspend our weekly vigils. Our peace group will continue to meet, review events and make representations to the Government about the peaceful resolution of conflicts. We can be found at the address below.

BRIAN MEARA

Ilkley Peace Group,

Friends Meeting House,

Queens Road,

Ilkley.

Precept queries

SIR, - Over the past two years Ilkley Parish Council has increased our council tax without them telling us the full facts. This year's 'Section 137' precept has been increased without it being the law. The parish council did not put the issue to the ballot. The parish council did not require Bradford Council to put the issue to a poll- as the parish council could have required the district council to do.

That is not responsible and accountable democracy. It is time that the parish council told council tax payers what is going on - openly and frankly. For years the parish council rejected the idea of increasing council tax by a local precept. Did the parish council do a U-turn because Bradford pushed them? Were they told that the Government had left them no choice- that parish councils had to increase council tax whether they liked it or not?

Has the parish council done any projected costings for becoming what Whitehall spin calls a 'Quality Parish Council' - bearing in mind that it will continuously increase council tax?

Bradford Council claims that the parish council decides the size of the local precept part of the council tax. So then, how is it that last November the then Chairman of the parish council said that there would be no increase for this present financial year - but when the precept was demanded it showed a 29 per cent increase for Band D dwellings, which are the yardstick used?

Who told the parish council that they could levy a 'Section 137' precept for 2003/4 based on £5 per elector? Was it Bradford Council- or somebody else? A 'Section 137' sum of £5 per elector was not the law when the precept for 2003/4 was demanded. Parliament's website on the internet shows that it will still not be the law even after June 1. Why was the parish so eager to 'jump the gun'?

Why has the parish council not told us that the Local Government Bill which is still before Parliament, will, if enacted in its present form, establish a formula so as to increase the size of the local precept every year from then on? Where is the wording in legislation that says that parish councils can do what Ilkley Parish Council has done - i.e. give out handouts to private clubs and societies?

There are still other things to tell us which will further increase the council tax. When are we going to be told about that?

Edwin Schirn

Victoria Grove,

Ilkley..

Iraq belongs to its people

SIR, - Iraq is a post-conflict society, traumatised not only by the immediate horrors of war, but by its history.

It is, therefore, neither 'jaundiced' nor 'anti-American' (as suggested in the letters columns on May 8) to express concern for its future in terms of peace and continued stability, whilst reconstruction remains in the hands of those who continue to misunderstand its culture, ethnic and religious divisions, but who place at the forefront of any 'new' Iraq their own pre-conditions for peace.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of war, no-one sought to endorse the continuation of Saddam Hussein's regime, nor should the gross violations of human rights which it inflicted on a captive population for so many years be forgotten.

Yet peace is not, nor will it ever be, the lasting legacy of 'liberation' for we do not begin to forgive Iraq its past, and allow it the space and time in which to construct a future of its own design.

The role of the international community, and not just the US, should be one only of support, unbiased and devoid of self-interest. Peace building in Iraq can only begin through the involvement of the people of Iraq; the creation of community through ownership leads to empowerment and sense of shared identity.

All of this, and more, belongs to the people of Iraq. They have earned it, it is their right and we must now allow them the freedom to be, without constantly seeking to rebuild their country in our own image.

CLARE SOMMERVILLE

21 Brook Street,

Ilkley.