SIR, - After the recent hot weekend in Ilkley, a gigantic amount of liutter was generated by visitors to the Riverside area, east and west of the new Brook Street bridge, which did not find its way into the appropriate but inadequate litter bins but littered the entire recreational area by the river.

There were the usual containers for fast food, polystyrene trays, waxed cups and plastic glasses. These are never made of biodegradable materials, such as compressed rice paper.

Then the under-age, and sometimes over-age, drinkes left heaps of cans. Some dog poo bags, which although used, did not find their way into the red bins but adorned the branches of riverside trees like Christmas decorations.

Disposable barbecues, used opposirte the Olicanians cricket field, must be too hot to handle to take home, and it is a long walk to put them in the bins by the rugby club.

And then there is the odd disposable nappy! Do the parents of the owners of these think that disposable means biodegradable?

There are over and under garments and single shoes - somebody must be hopping home in a state of undress.

Sadly, it seems we are all becoming enemies of the earth, not friends! At least we shall be insulated from global warming by being buried deeply in our own rubbish. The solutions could be:

1. Larger bins, more regularly emptied over hot weekends.

2. The employment of less packaging and more biodegradable.

3. Stricter policing of vullnerable areas with hidden cameras and on the spot fines.

There is another alternative, the cheapest but the most diffficult. That is that the public realise their responsibilities by disposing of litter correctling, or taking it home and, of course, educating their children to do likewise. The choices are ours.

DALE CHAPPELL

Environment Representative,

Soroptimist International of Ilkley.

Verge folly

SIR, - On a recent visit to the bathing pool area in Ilkley, I noticed that the wood verge at the back of the bathing pool and between the two footbridges had ben severely cut back.

Why was it thought necessary to do this? Surely not to create more parking space?

I am particularly fond of this area and its population of butterflies, which I have been monitoring ever since I saw my first ever Comma along here in 1991.

I have records and phtoographs of at least nine species of butterflies which frequent this area, many of which, I am convinced, breed here every year. Some can be seen flying and perching as early as March on warm sunny days.

It is also an ideal home for ground-nesting birds and small animals, who must have been devastated when they were suddenly mown down.

Conditions are perfect along this border, being south-facing. It is warm and lush with stinging nettles and flowers, upon which butterflies totally depend for their caterpillars to feed on, plus the nectar for adults and deep undergrowth to roost at night or when conditions are not suitable for flying.

If this verge is cut frequently these conditions will disappear - and so will the butterflies. I have written to the parks department of Bradford Council and, hopefully, somebody who is also concerned with butterfly conservation will read my letter.

The verge will recover in time, so please let it grow back to its wild state where wildlife can breed and prosper. I consider this to be much more important than creating more car parking space, if that is the intention.

BOB HARRISON

67 Fieldhead Road,

Guiseley.

Festival a treat

SIR, - The 95th Wharfedale Music Festival has run its course. An event of this magnitude could not take place without the help of a huge number of people. I should like to take this opportunity to thank each and evey one of them for their invaluable contribution and commitment to this most prestigious event in the Wharfedale cultural calendar.

So many people have helped in so many ways - platform stewards, adjudicators' stewards, door stewards, scribes, box office attendants, workshop helpers, coffee makers and lunch providers. Our gratitude to all these wonderful people is boundless.

Further afield we have Neil, Jim Bray, Ian Powell and Mr and Mrs Barraclough, who make us so welcome at each of our competition venues, and Kathlee Pinder and her colleagues at the Tourist Information Centre, who do so much to promote the festival - not to mention Paul Langan and thst taff at the Ilkley Gazette, who take such an interest in it.

Our adjudicators and accomapnists have worked so hard all week and I should like to thank them all for their sterling service, especially Arnold, Paul, Jonathan, Geoffrey and Geoffrey, who spend so much time prior to the festival practising the selections.

Jane and her helpers at the Christchurch Coffee Centre have provided invaluable support and the ladies from Ilkley Flower Club decorated the Gala Night stage to perfection. Thanks also to Val and the ladies from Just a Sec, who produced the programmes for both Gala Night and Band Night.

New this year was our Service of Dedication, which formed part of the Family Service at All Saints Church. A big thank you to Paul Tudge, who made us so welcome and gave us a foundation on which to buld next year.

If you missed the festival this year you missed a treat. Don't miss the next one - same time, same place in 2002. See you there!

Miss ELIZABETH HOLBROOK

Secretary,

Wharfedale Music Festival,

The Gables,

48 Bradford Road,

Menston.

Bridge support

SIR, - A total of 121 people,(not including children) took part in the Burley-in-Wharfedale bridge march on Sunday, May 13. Not an outpouring of solid support from the village!

Most of the walkers were ramblers. I recognised only perhaps ten or 12 people from the village. I'm neither for nor against but I would benefit from it in winter since I'm a keen dog walker and walker.

What really galls me is the mis-information given about Ben Plummer, whose mother has done more for this village than all those 121, whose main concerns are the selfish irresponsible parking that WILL occur by the lazy walkers who want to drive ten miles then walk two.

If the presence of Janet Street-Porter was meant to have swollen the masses then she must be deflated!

Bill Weatherill

Burley-in-Wharfedale.

No fooling

SIR, - Barbara Cussons (Gazette, May 10) is wrong to suggest that the Government is trying to close down democratically elected bodies. In the case of parish councils, the opposite is true.

The Government recognises the value of local services being controlled by local people. Its intention is to strengthen the role of town and parish councils by encouraging district councils to devolve more responsibility to them. Ilkley Parish Council does not perform many worthewhile functions and has been used in the past, by Barbara Cussons and one or two others, as a platform for promoting their own particular brand of political propaganda.

Thanks to the Government White Paper - Modernising Local Government - this situation is likely to change in the near future.

There is now a perfect opportunity for Ilkley to manage some of its own facilities.The provision of sufficient public toilets for thsi tourist town is just one example where local control could make a big impact.

When Barbara Cussons refers to 'Ilkley struggling to improve its much neglected facilities, she has forgotten that the Conservative Group has been responsible for running Bradford Council for more than 12 months.

Instead of complaining about Mr Dundas, perhaps she should speak to Coun Eaton and ask her to spend some of Ilkley's money in Ilkley.

GEOFF BEST

Secretary,

Ilkley Labour Party,

Leeds Road,

Ilkley.

Mother's thanks

SIR, - Stephen and I would like to thank all those of you who have in any way contributed towards the CTI 2000 Project.

It is a humbling experience for me to realise that so many of you have worked hard and given generously so that my son, Stephen, can share a home with two other young adults in Ilkley, the town in which he went to secondary school and knows so well.

This is what he wanted and he has worked hard to achieve sufficient independence to make this possible. For both Stephen and myself, this is indeed a dream come true.

JANE WHITESIDE

Brambles,

15 The Acres,

Addingham.

Lack of transport

SIR, - Perhaps John Prescott should rename his 'integrated transport system' the 'disinterested transport system'.

Owners of horseless carriages will be unaware that it is impossible to travel directly from Ilkley to Harrogate on so-called public transport - a service lesser mortals used for more than 50 years.

I understand one can board a coach in Otley for this distant town, or take a gamble and go by rail via Leeds. The latter would cost £10 or more per day, with no guarantee of the traveller arriving on time at all.

When tourism circles are crying out for easier access to the countryside, bus companies are cutting services faster than Beeching's axe.

Sales brochures extol the virtues of Ilkley within easy reach of Leeds and Bradford by rail and road, the airport and the Dales. Are we to assume their failure to mention Harrogate is down to the lack of direct bus services?

There is also much talk of tourism in both towns. Such talk fails to address the difficulties those without a horseless carriage have in travelling between venues. For example, younger residents must rely on family or friends journeying to their place of education in harrogate.

The time has come for the travelling public to demand a return of this service for their good and not for the good of the shareholders.

FRAZER IRWIN

Queen's Road,

Ilkley.