SIR - Education Bradford should be ashamed and apologise to each of the parents of children at Special Schools. As parents, why is it that we find out about the closure of Greenfield School through the pages of the T&A on a Saturday night?

As parents we have been treated appallingly and shown no respect.

How many parents are still not aware that their Special School is to be closed because they do not get the T&A?

Parents of severely-autistic children are in an emotional, stressful, exhausting situation day and night and Education Bradford clearly have no comprehension, no real understanding, no genuine feeling for what this means.

Is there anyone at Education Bradford who actually cares or has the remotest idea of how parents feel about the proposed closure of their Special School?

Every one of the parents of the 904 children in Special Schools should have been sent a letter telling them about the plans to close their children's school prior to the T&A report coming out. That was the very least they deserved.

Michael and Sally Waite, Oakroyd Road, Wibsey.

SIR - I feel compelled to write and air the views of sane people regarding the sentencing of the Bradford rioters and Monday's "Trouble Up North" TV programme highlighting the plight of their families in appealing the sentences. Can these people not see the actions of their loved ones in totality? These young people ran riot in our once-proud city, destroying property, injuring police officers and destroying the immense goodwill of the indigenous population of Bradford.

The sentences given to them are totally deserved and they should take their punishment and reflect on what made them behave like animals in the first place.

The families of the rioters must also take part of the blame for the actions of their youth. These families have had their heads in the sand for far too long, turning a blind eye to their youths' criminality, attitude problem and loutishness.

I wish they would stop shouting the race card and look to themselves for the true reasons why these youngsters are in the state that they are in.

Justice for all? Yes please. Justice has been done.

Mujahid Ali Islam, Fairbank Road, Girlington.

SIR - Yorkshire Forward's decision to withdraw funding from the Broadway development has threatened its viability. It cannot be denied that such a scheme would help to rejuvenate Bradford city centre, but its full potential will only be realised when improved transport links are secured.

The reopening of the Spen Valley line would improve access from the south, removing congestion on the M62 and other gridlocked roads.

The building of a cross-Bradford heavy rail link between the two Bradford stations would encourage journeys made from the North to be made by train rather than private transport. This would reduce congestion, especially on the Aire Valley.

It is time that the Council and Metro gave serious consideration to the above, otherwise Bradford will continue to suffer from poor transport links, which in turn would deter investors.

Alec Suchi, (secretary, Bradford Rail Users Group), Allerton Road, Allerton.

SIR - The management committee of the Retired People's Action Forum wish to thank the T&A for the coverage of a meeting, jointly organised by the RPAF the Bradford Council for Community Care and the Community Network, which was held at the Central Library on December 12.

A further meeting to be held on Wednesday, February 26 (time and venue to be decided) was arranged to be addressed by, among others, Rodney Bickerstaffe, President of the National Pensioners Conven-tion, to which we are affiliated.

It is hoped that all our members will give their support to this meeting, along with other groups in the area who support our mandate to fight for better representation on behalf of retired people in all the areas we have identified in our mandate and, of course, that of the National Pensioners Convention.

If you are not already committed to a group, please join and give your support by contacting me at the address below (tel: 01274 427689), or discuss within your own groups so that we have a broad agenda of support.

What matters is what we have in common and our ability to unite under the proposed banner of Pensioners Parliament.

Audrey Raistrick, secretary, Retired People's Action Forum, 55 Stonebridge, Idle Croft Road, Bradford, BD10 9TW.