Letters to the Editor

Many were trying to get inside the building and security were working hard to keep them out.

As we sat having a pre-bowls drink I could not believe the sheer numbers of youths loitering outside, seemingly there only to spoil other people's enjoyment.

Inside the building the men's toilets seemed to be another favourite hang-out for other slightly older yobs who genuinely made me feel like something was about to happen to me. Only the presence of two police officers put me at ease enough to venture inside. Yes that's correct, police supervising the toilets! Incredible.

I am a 28-year-old man, 6ft tall and heavily built. I was intimidated by these idiots. I cannot imagine how other more vulnerable people must feel.

Andrew Ellison, Keighley Road, Denholme

l Matthew Deane, marketing manager of Hollywood Bowl, said: "Hollywood Bowl takes the safety and security of our customers very seriously. Since opening our Bradford site we have worked with both the developers and the police on security issues to ensure the Leisure Exchange is a safe, welcoming environment. We constantly review our security arrangements to ensure we deal with any issues effectively and will continue to do so."

SIR - How long before the British Revolution happens? Last week a 23-year-old "low life" was sentenced to five years in jail for killing a pedestrian. At the time he was serving his fifth driving ban, but desperate for a quick fix he raced through red lights at 50mph, hit the man, didn't stop and only confessed when police traced his damaged car.

He will serve three years, and his longest sentence will be his sixth driving ban for six years.

What does this say about the value of your life in this country now? Justice, like this innocent man, is now dead in Great Britain. This Government has never taken one measure to protect people from the evil that now lives among us.

Tony Blair's "be-wigged intellectual wonders" need putting to sleep before everyone else is.

Gary Lorriman, Long Lane, Bingley.

SIR - In reply to the letter "Snub for the city" (January 21). Many years ago, when St Gemma's Hospice opened in Moortown, Leeds, a group of friends and I went to work as fundraisers and started the annual fund-raising Windermere Row.

My job was to seek donations of food for the caf which we ran in Windermere for the benefit of the rowers and their supporters. I approached Morrisons through Mr Brian Morrell of Farmers Boy.

Their response was to provide us with generous amounts of food, pies, meats, ham, cheese etc over the two weekends of the row year after year.

Mr Morrell organised his staff to take part in the row and every year went up to Windermere to cheer them on.

As the result of Morrisons' participation in this event many thousands of pounds were raised for the hospice. I hope that this answers Carole Ver's question which I could not let go unanswered.

Maureen Vosper, St Paul's Avenue, Wibsey.

SIR - I have to write to defend Ken Morrison against home-grown whingers who do this city, and possibly its most successful son, a great disservice.

He provides inexpensive food, employs hundreds locally and donates many thousands of pounds each year, via a trust, to charities, without any publicity.

Throughout all the heckling he has kept his dignity but must feel saddened.

The recent takeover bid for Safeway has put Bradford's businesses back on the map internationally.

Stop kicking success - take advantage of it before it is too late.

John Pennington, Pennington's Live, Manningham Lane, Bradford 1.

SIR - Your report on January 14 gave excellent coverage of the effective work carried out by the park rangers in helping to reduce the amount of dog fouling in the district.

Irresponsible dog owners need to be even more concerned because the fixed penalty ticket for not cleaning up after their animals is double the amount stated in the article and on the notice board in the cartoon.

The cost is now £50 and unlike parking tickets there are hardly any extenuating circumstances that can be used to wriggle out of the payment.

The message is clear, and it is an expensive one, and rightly so!

Councillor Keith Thomson (chairman, Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee), Heights Lane, Bradford 9.

SIR - Now we know why Geraldine Howley was so keen to privatise the Council's housing stock.

Not only has she secured herself a top job but she will also receive a huge pay increase.

What should concern council tenants is that Geraldine Howley will only be accountable to one person, Councillor M Smith, and not to the people who will be paying her huge salary, the tenants.

But like everything else with the privatisation, not one person (including Geraldine Howley, Coun Smith and even the area boards) has been democratically elected by the tenants.

B Bryan, Central Avenue, Shipley.

SIR - Gosh! What a surprise! The private sector education provider which was going to solve all of Bradford's education problems (or so we were told) now wants to lower its targets.

However, the supplier must still get paid handsomely for non-delivery - another great deal which the Chief Executive of Bradford Council has arranged for the people of Bradford.

Take another pay rise, Mr Stewart, and keep up the good work! 2020 Vision is alive and well and living in Cloud Cuckoo Land. Onwards to the next great initiative.

K J Trocki, Birchdale, Bingley.

More readers' views on the suggested alterations to City Hall

SIR - We fully agree with Mike Priestley's article (January 25) regarding the alterations to Bradford City Hall, and hope the councillors and English Heritage will listen to the people of Bradford and not spoil a magnificent Victorian building.

In the autumn of 2002 an open day was held allowing the public to look round places of interest. We spent the day with our friends looking round these lovely old buildings: Little Germany, the Bradford Club and the City Hall. We all felt proud to be Bradfordians!

To incorporate glass and modern features into a splendid Victorian building we feel sure will be regretted in later years.

Kathryn & Richard Dobson, Carrbottom Road, Greengates.

SIR - Much of the time I think Mike Priestley, despite the excellence of his surname, is a miserable old fogey who exists only to complain. However, he was 100 per cent right in North of Watford on Saturday about the proposed changes to City Hall.

Has nothing been learned from the architectural abominations foisted on our city in the 1960s? City Hall is one of the few treasures of which our once-great city can still be proud. By all means make it more accessible, ensure that it is visited and used by citizens as much as possible.

But how can our elected members even consider allowing it to be desecrated by some trendy architects with no taste and no regard for our history? Leave it alone to be admired, as it already is, by future generations, and if there is money available, use it somewhere it is needed (Rawson Market, Priestley Centre etc)

C.D. Priestley, Hatton Close, Odsal

SIR - I was hoping that Mike Priestley would have something to say about the proposed alterations to City Hall and he did. His excellent article (North of Watford, January 25) surpassed all my expectations. I hope that every councillor reads and inwardly digests the contents.

One mistake Mike didn't mention was the Manchester Road bus lane fiasco.

Rilam Kirton, Northallerton Road, Bradford 3.

SIR - I read with horror the plans put forward to modernise City Hall. I have been inside on many occasions. The wood panelling and furnishings are beautiful and interesting.

Surely we could manage to keep some of our old historic places.

One of its striking features is the Clock Tower, which at night is a lovely sight with its floodlighting. A modern addition wherever sited will detract from the building.

Margaret Jaques, Priestthorpe Road, Pudsey.

SIR - City Hall is probably the finest architectural building in Bradford and testament to an era when Bradford was one of the great industrial cities of the world. Any so-called "development" of this superb site would be an injustice not only from an aesthetic viewpoint but from a historical one as well.

This grand building is something every Bradfordian should be proud of and to tamper with it in any way in my opinion would be a travesty.

The Council should be congratulated for trying to bring new life and vitality into the heart of Bradford but surely not at the cost of potentially ruining one of the gems in Bradford's crown.

J Bacon, Lynhurst Grove, Allerton