TODAY we are asking people to rise up against the ridiculous 'Welcome to Leeds' signs at the entrances to Otley. We are asking everyone who lives in the town to make their feelings known and present a united front to the city council and say - 'you're welcome to Leeds, we live in Otley'.

We don't want the council's ugly yellow-green road signs at the entrances to our lovely town. We don't want them dominating every road into Otley and we certainly don't want to be told we live in Leeds.

We demand that the oddly coloured signs on their truly awful bright blue legs are taken down - straight away, or at the very least that the wording be changed drastically, from 'Welcome to Leeds' to 'Welcome to Otley'.

It must be one of the worst decisions the city council has ever made. Why on earth didn't at least one sensible city councillor stand up and say Otley people will not want these signs, there will be an uproar, and not only in Otley? In every other village in Leeds where the signs are going up, people will be outraged and ask who on earth has made such an error - and such an expensive one at that.

Copies of our petition are now available in shops in the town and at our offices in Orchard Gate. We call on everyone to put their name to it - let's see if we can't get these signs removed.

The political make-up of Otley Town Council has changed. Labour now has seven seats, the Liberal Democrats have seven and the last seat is filled by an Independent. It is the perfect opportunity for the town council to forget about politics and get on with the business of doing what is best for Otley.

It is not the business of a parish council to be political, it is the business of a parish council to act as the voice of the electorate - it's neither interesting nor productive for councillors to constantly make political speeches. Sooner or later our local councillors will realise the vast majority of us switch off every time they start a sentence with 'us in the Labour/Liberal Democrat Party" So, Otley Town Council, why not try to forget about politics, try working together for a change - and do some good for the town.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.