Readers' Letters

Brave words indeed, especially as they are not backed by history or experience. NATO was formed as a defence force for a group of European nations and was never intended to act as a strike force.

Twenty thousand Serbs were displaced by Croatia. Does Donald not agree that to follow the line of government propaganda like he is doing, we should also have bombed Croatia and used our troops on them? When we have settled the dispute in Kosovo, where shall we start interfering next? How many lives can the British army afford to lose before Mr Robertshaw decides that's enough?

The British propaganda machine is working full blast on people like Mr Robertshaw who want to send our troops where these angels fear to tread. It is easy to send someone else to face the death they fear.

The question we should all be asking is, who has financed the arming of the KLA and what guarantees were they given to oppose the Serb administration? The bombs being dropped by NATO not only kill Serb civilians but they also kill the Albanians. If killing civilians is a war crime, where does that leave the British government? As I said in my last letter, you cannot have your cake and eat it.

There is much more I could say in defence of my argument but I am sure Mr Robertshaw will agree that on reflection I have said enough to convince him we have nothing to gain by becoming involved.

FRED HIRLAM,

Gloucester Avenue, Silsden.

SIR - May I through your paper express my support for Mr Hirlam in his denunciation of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Since the 1945 war America has bombed Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Iran, Iraq, Panama, Cuba, Granada, Sudan, Bosnia and now Yugoslavia.

They have bases all over the world. If this is not American expansionism I don't know what is.

During the war with Yugo-slavia our ally had to defend herself against the Germans, Croats, Bosnians and Alban-ians, who in turn killed and raped them by the thousands, and now we expect the Albanians who outnumber them in Kosovo to turn part of their country into an Albanian Islamic state. I think not.

As shown in the past three polls on ITV, the majority of viewers are against what we are doing.

B MADDOCKS,

Grafton Road, Keighley.

SIR - I have read a leaflet recently issued by Cllr Young, the Keighley-based Bradford politician, with some incredulity. Does he really expect the electors in the Worth Valley to believe that he was personally responsible for such things as the Hebden Bridge Road repair scheme, or repairs to the Pon-den and Sladen bridges?

When the Haworth parish council issue was being formulated, planned, leafleted to the public, purely as an observer I had attended many of the meetings, but had never seen Cllr Young at these engagements. Equally, as an Oxenhope parish councillor, I am not aware that the Oxenhope Village Design Statement has had any input from this Labour politician.

At those meetings I attended in Oakworth where overwhelmed parents discussed the scandal of the schools review programme, it has to be said that never once did I see or hear Cllr Young address the concerns of school places, and the obvious lack of answers from Bradford Education Committee.

On housing planning issues Cllr Young has said that he has had success in stopping developments. Would he explain all these successes to those people who may feel that his statement needs further scrutiny?

Is it my cynicism which suggest that this resident of Bing-ley, Cllr Young, is seeking to gain much needed credibility here in the Worth Valley by creating a document that seems to me to have an element of public relations surrealism? No doubt Jeffrey Archer, the Conservative Lord, would have been proud to write such pretentiousness.

DAVID SAMUELS,

Prospective Ind Cllr,

Station Road,Oxenhope.

SIR - I would firstly like to congratulate Mr R P Beale and Cllr Paul Bromley on their excellent letters.

Cllr McNally did attend our council meetings regularly, as Cllr Bromley pointed out, more so than our other two ward councillors, one who attended twice and the other who attended no more than a dozen times in the four years I have served on the parish council. However, I believe they do attend council meetings at Steeton/Eastburn and Adding-ham.

I should also like to raise a point on your article in last week's edition. 'Tree-pruning not the roundabout answer'. We at Silsden parish council were asked by Steeton/East-burn parish council to support them on this issue. It seems though that Mr Schofield puts costs before lives when he says: "If the planting was removed it would probably be replaced with a grass verge which would increase maintenance costs."

Personally, I think lives are worth more than money.

Also, shouldn't the parish councils of Steeton/Eastburn and Silsden be involved in the discussions regarding the cyclist and pedestrian crossing of the Aire Valley trunk road at this stage, and not be told what Bradford council or the High-ways Agency plan to do afterwards?

Consultation costs nothing, without it you end up with a load of blue balls!

It should be pointed out that Weavestyle are in no way to be blamed for the above mentioned balls.

CHRIS ATKINSON,

Prospective Ind Cllr,

Craven Ward,Silsden.

SIR - May I thank the several people who so kindly allowed me to go forward in the Post Office queue last week when I was suffering temporarily (I hope) mobility problems.

MARGERY PRICE,

Heather Cottage, Farnhill.

SIR - The point raised by your correspondent about the status of Haworth is an interesting one.

Those of us who live there undoubtedly tend to think and speak of it as a village.

I suspect that to the geographer it would appear to be a small town.

Historically, I feel that it made the transition from village to town in the 19th century as textile mills and large stone quarries overtook agriculture and cottage industries as principal employers of labour.

The final word, however, must be left with Keighley's bard Bill o'th' Hoylus End. Bill was in no doubt whatever about the importance of Haworth in the scheme of things. A little known work of his from 1867 is entitled Bill o'th' Hoylhus End's Vizit to t' City o' Howarth, an His Recepshun Among t' Natives.

It's not some modern, upstart kind of city either for he tells us in his History o' Haworth Railway that; 'thare's no daat but it's as oud as Methuslam, if net ouder.'

So there we have it, not a village, not a town - but nothing less grand than city of ancient foundation!

STEVEN WOOD,

Stone Street, Haworth.

SIR - I should like to record my public thanks, on behalf of the Bront Society, for the Keighley News' solid support for the campaign to save Charlotte Bront's 'Dreadful Dream' letter.

I was disappointed to read Martin Reppion's dissenting letter last week, but I am certain that his is a minority view.

In the fortnight or so since we launched our appeal, we have had hundreds of contributions, totalling several thousand pounds, by post and through the Bront Parsonage museum's donations box.

People - ordinary people - have written to say that they want to see the letter return to the Parsonage because that is where it ought to be.

They feel a sense that it 'belongs' to the museum, and that the museum 'belongs' to them. This sense of identity is important, because society is founded on our forging networks of common identities in all sorts of areas.

Health and education, whose importance Mr Reppion stresses, are vital, and are major areas where common expenditure for common gain helps cement our society together. Health is to care for our bodies; education is to nourish our hearts and minds.

Both are equally essential if we are to be complete as human beings. An old Chinese proverb says: "If a man has two loaves, let him sell one and buy a lily."

For many people, without doubt, Charlotte's letter will be like that lily. In terms of knowledge, the letter as an original document is important, so that the details of the handwriting, the paper, the watermark and so on can be studied; but beyond that there is a sense of being in contact with the 'real thing' for which there is no substitute, which only museums and galleries can provide, which is why (for instance) millions are flocking to the Monet exhibition in London instead of simply looking at TV programmes or a book of reproductions.

There is not enough space here to repeat how moving and important the letter is; the Keighley News has already reported this in full.

However, I need to make a couple of further points in response to Mr Reppion. First, the letter will certainly be displayed; what was said was that it is too susceptible to damage from light to be put on permanent display.

Second, in the world in which we live, market forces determine the value of everything whether we like it or not.

Because people respond so emotionally to the lives and works of the Bronts, there is a high demand for anything associated with them.

The two previous letters of real importance by Charlotte to be sold at auction were knocked down for between £60,000 and £70,000. With that in mind, I feel we have done well to negotiate a price reduction from £85,000 to £50,000. For one person, that may seem an absurdly high sum.

But - since the population of Keighley is 45,000 - by owning it in common, it costs little more than £1 each.

Properly cared for, this piece of our common heritage will last for hundreds of years. It is a small investment for the future.

MIKE HILL,

Director,

Bront Parsonage Museum.

SIR - I would like to comment on the letter Pledge on Waste from Nick Davies, Development Director, Wastewise, which appeared on Friday April 9.

I am not at all reassured by his comments on the proposed landfill site at Buck Park Quarry in Denholme.

Contrary to what Mr Davies says, I feel that if planning permission is granted for this site, it will create a problem for the village and not solve one.

One hundred lorry movements per day (50 to the site and 50 from it) is a problem Denholme can do without.

I understand from Brad-ford's Waste Management Department that Bradford's waste is taken care of for the next five to seven years and not eighteen months as stated.

Whether or not it goes against government policy, it appears that much of our waste is already transported by lorries over the Bradford area and into Lancashire.

I understand this existing waste was tendered for by Wastewise who lost it to someone else.

Who is to say, even if planning permission is granted for this landfill site, that Wastewise would be successful in any future tender?

When another of the local landfill sites, at Manywells, Cullingworth, closes in approximately 18 months, the residents of Denholme were hoping for less traffic and not for a continuation of lorries for a further ten years.

I wonder if Wastewise's leaflet explaining the need for the landfill site is more their need rather than ours!

MRS JEAN HILL,

Keighley Road, Denholme.

SIR - Ann Cryer MP should be congratulated for supporting the Access to Environmental Information Bill.

At present, it is virtually impossible for people to get an accurate picture of what pollution is being released into their neighbourhood. The Bill, if passed, will provide people with better information on pollution

MIKE CHILDS,

Friends of the Earth.

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