Letters to the Editor

The Market could thus be restored to its former glory, meat, fish and greengrocery included, on a flat site, handy for car parking and the railway station.

Furthermore it should be less disadvantageous to Morrisons and the Co-operative store than a new superstore would be (which in any case Bradford needs just like a hole in the head).

I am sure many Bradfordians mourn the passing of Rawson Market just as much as I do. Please, councillors and officials, may we have it back, on a larger and more convenient site?

Muriel Thompson, Priestthorpe Road, Bingley.

SIR - Councillor Susan Dewdney (Lab, Odsal) seems to think that the money spent on the consultants' report surrounding council housing is a waste, even though it was she and the Labour group who agreed it (T&A, September 20).

Coun Dewdney wants to take the short-term option, even though this money would have been a drop in the ocean compared to the £100 million needed over the next ten years for improvements and repairs to 27,000 houses.

'Party politics' should not be used, and we must move away from the empty phrase "council housing". We must remember that these houses are occupied by real people and that these houses are "peoples' homes".

People have a right to have good-quality homes, and the only question is how do we deliver this?

Consultation has begun and I am assured that before any literature goes out, all political parties and Tenants' Federations will see it, and comment on the contents.

Tenants must be given the facts and the pros and cons of every option!

After all, it will be the tenants who have to make the decision through a ballot, so we must give them the facts!

Councillor Andrew Smith (Con, Queensbury), Chapel Street, Queensbury.

SIR - I read with great interest the letter from Mr S P Yeadon (September 18).

I understand the writer's concern that a great opportunity to build a 100,000-seater stadium as a status symbol for Bradford may be lost.

But who would finance such a scheme? The superdome fell apart because of its unrealistic funding requirements.

Where would the crowds come from? The stadium would be available 365 days a year but there are only so many major events that can attract crowds of this size.

The two local professional teams only attract 20,000 crowds for a limited number of matches per year.

Where would these crowds park? The previous grandiose scheme had insufficient parking for 60,000 spectators, never mind 100,000.

The stadium is located in a large area of housing, next to a motorway, on the busiest roundabout in the district and next to a new proposed industrial estate at West Bowling golf course.

I have fought long and hard over the last five years for an appropriate development at Odsal. I believe my local team Bradford Bulls deserve an appropriate stadium, but any scheme proposed must fit within the constraints of the district, must be viable, suitable for community use and be sensitive to the residents of the area.

David Warburton, Rooley Crescent, Odsal, Bradford.

SIR - You were quite right in your comment on September 15 to admonish the Government for their tardiness in responding to a growing problem of protest, and the petrol companies for their proposed increase of prices once the protest had ended.

However, I believe ordinary men and women were rightly aggrieved at the greed of the Government by taxing petrol at up to 80 per cent; they were also less than pleased by Mr Blair's "I'm the Prime Minister, and I know best" attitude.

But the main reason many people felt the need to support the protesters was their frustration at being ignored by a Government with a far too large majority, which has fostered arrogance.

Non-violent direct action - which is what we saw during the fuel protests - should not be condemned. Rather, it should act as a warning shot to all politicians lest they become complacent about the feelings of those who elected them, and who may change their minds at the next election.

Mrs Hilda Sanders, Chapel Terrace, Thornton.

SIR - Thanks to Mr Dunn for his letter of September 21, which must have given many people a good laugh. The fuel protest was one of the least "spontaneous" events imaginable, and must have taken an immense amount of planning and co-ordination.

Disruption on that scale does not happen by chance.

He also has an odd view of democracy. I dare say you could take a poll showing that 91 per cent of people think Income Tax should come down by 10p in the pound. I hardly think a Government would act instantly on that one either.

Democracy works through the ballot box, not snapshot opinion polls, so within the next 18 months Mr Dunn will have the opportunity to restore to power the party whose corruption, hypocrisy and monumental incompetence so resoundingly lost them the last General Election.

Until then, is it too much to hope that the protesters will allow the other fifty-odd million of us to continue striving to make a living?

C D Priestley, Hatton Close, Odsal, Bradford.

SIR - We would like to comment on the provision made for people with disabilities during the recent petrol crisis.

Although we welcome the priority user status given to social services, the NHS and special schools which all give support to children and adults with disabilities, we are disappointed that no direct provision has been considered necessary for petrol for this group.

Especially when it would appear that these authorisation passes have been given to some staff in the designated categories whose need for special status appears to be tenuous to say the least.

We fully appreciate that a line has to be drawn regarding essential usage status and we sincerely hope the need for special measures does not occur again.

However, we would like to take this opportunity to appeal to those in a position to authorise essential usage to consider people with disabilities who are house-bound without fuel, when drawing up any future priority lists.

Miss CEG Pearson, chairman, Scope in Bradford, Great Horton Road, Bradford.