Readers' Letters

It would appear that Ms Jackson thinks it quite normal to drink the water from swimming pools. I doubt if many of your readers make a habit of that, except by accident. She also says, regarding the chlorine content: "It is just to keep up the purification levels. The only problem we have had is that people's goldfish have keeled over"!

This takes me back to the days when pits had canaries. If they died, the air was poisonous. Now it seems we have to keep goldfish. If they are floating on the top, don't drink the water!

HELEN M STEPHENSON.

East View, Silsden.

SIR - As a regular visitor of Cliffe Castle park I enjoy seeing the animals, especially the rabbits now that they are better managed and the continuous breeding has stopped - or has it?

A few weeks ago some baby dwarf rabbits were bred, on making enquiries I find out that this is not council policy and a mistake has occurred. OK fair enough, but what happened to the babies?

They have been given to a local Keighley pet shop free of charge, where they will be sold at £15 each.

On making further enquiries I am assured that it is not council policy to provide local businesses with goods to sell and therefore profit by at the expense of the local taxpayer.

Could someone please explain to me why therefore the dwarf rabbits are still breeding, there is another litter, and will the results of the litter also be donated to the local pet shop to profit by.

As a small business myself I would like to ask Bradford Council if they could give me the same incentives that the pet shop is receiving otherwise the trading laws could be seen as weighted.

M E STUART,

Clock View St,

Beechcliffe.

A spokesman for the Council's Recreation Department said: "We would like to assure Mrs Stuart that it is not Council policy to provide goods for profit to local businesses.

About three years ago there was a problem with the rabbit population which was mistakenly resolved by giving the offspring to a local pet shop. When this came to light staff were asked to stop this practice and since then we have tried to ensure the necessary humane medical precautions have been taken to ensure further breeding does not take place."

SIR - On behalf of the committee I wish to thank everyone who took part in or helped on the day at Oxenhope Straw Race.

A big thank you also goes to the people who actually sponsor the runners enabling us to make the wonderful donations to local charities.

Special thanks to the people of Oxenhope for their continued support.

JUDITH FISHER,

Secretary,

Oxenhope Straw Race.

SIR - We have recently given information to the Keighley News that money, ring fenced for specific schools may be diverted for its schools review.

An unnamed council spokesman for Bradford Council has made a statement to the Keighley News which says that: "The statement by the association does not accurately reflect the position." He further states that our claims, 'generally are not true'.

May I reiterate that all information regarding Bradford Council is obtained from Bradford Council and we have no need to take anything that they publish out of context, or to alter the published facts. We do not tell lies, nor ever need to.

Would the unnamed spokesman please clarify what part of our statement is 'generally not true', and also how 'the statement by the association does not accurately reflect the position'?

DAVID SAMUELS,

Aire-Worth

Reform Association.

SIR - Re the ambitious improvements to Keighley town centre and bus station and to reduce traffic on Cavendish Street, to make things easier for shoppers; the idea is to speed up traffic flow and yet improve pedestrian safety, which first of all is to stop traffic criss crossing as is now evident at 2b on the KN plan - ie exit from bus station into Cavendish Street, also entry into bus station at the same place, clashing with traffic up and down Cavendish Street.

One way, traffic will cure this ie entry into bus station from North Street as planned but exit only into Cavendish Street.

To help shoppers between bus station and Sainsburys I suggest making a pedestrian area from Hanover Street down Cavendish Street to Sainsburys. Traffic entering Cavendish Street from bus station must turn left or proceed down Lawkholme Lane.

Entrance to DIY stores, Co-op and Poundstretchers closed and re-opened from East Parade at Fleece Street.

Only traffic going to Sainsburys allowed entrance to bottom end of Cavendish Street.

DONALD ROBERTSHAW,

Oats Street,

Keighley.

SIR - I read with interest your article in the Keighley News about the proposed traffic measures to speed up traffic flow, promote public transport and improve pedestrian safety.

I do not think the proposals will achieve the objectives, particularly the speeding up of traffic flow.

I think a much better system would be to make a large gyratory system.

I would propose making Bradford Road, from the fire station, a one way road and continue the system along East Parade and Worth Way.

Make South Street one way in the direction of Oakworth Road. Remove the roundabout at the bottom of Oakworth Road and make a refuge allowing traffic from both Oakworth Road and South Street merge into a one way system continuing along North Street to at least the junction with Alice Street. Alice Street could be one way in the direction of Lawkholme Lane.

I think the proposed improved pedestrian crossings and traffic lights should go ahead as planned, although the only safe way is to segregate pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

KEN WARD,

Halifax Road,

Cullingworth.

SIR - I refer to your article in the Keighley News July 24 on the proposals for Keighley town centre.

As the local blind society representing the views of 375 blind and partially sighted people in the Keighley area, we fully endorse plans to improve pedestrian safety, particularly concerning access to the bus station.

However my concern is the proposal once again to allow general traffic on Scott Street. You published a previous letter of mine (March 21, 1997) on another scheme suggesting a one way traffic system along Scott Street.

It appears that planners do not seem to appreciate the difficulties that visually impaired people have of crossing Keighley town centre to visit our flats, social centre, vision resource centre and office in Scott Street.

I am confident that, if they would like to contact me to be blind-folded and issued with a white cane, they would have a clearer understanding of what pedestrian safety really means.

K J BALDWIN,

Chief Executive,

Keighley & District

Assoc for the Blind.

SIR - It is rather unfair of your correspondent, M Richards of the Riddlesden Action Group, to blame councillors and Keighley planning officers for the problems that have arisen over the proposed development of the Swine Lane site .

The culprit in this sorry saga is the Government's Planning Inspectorate whose previous decisions made the passing of the application on 16.7.98 all but inevitable. Had the committee turned it down the most likely outcome would have been either: a) the developers would have appealed and almost certainly won, quite possibly at huge cost to the council tax payers, or b) the developers would have implemented an existing planning permission that was worse in that it took the whole of the wooded former Isolation Hospital Site and would have created a road safety hazard by failing to provide traffic lights at the Swine Lane/Bradford Road junction.

The reason for this unhappy state of affairs was that the Planning Inspectorate had ruled out all considerations but pedestrian safety. Therefore when the new application proposed a separate footbridge it had removed the only reason, on planning grounds, for turning it down. Three examples should illustrate my point: 1 The Planning Inspectorate do not believe that building in the wood and surrounding it with development on the two open sides would significantly affect wildlife! 2 They do not believe that building 400 houses would have a significant effect on the local schools requiring a significant contribution from the developers! 3 An earlier condition that development should not start until the Aire Valley Trunk Road was completed was interpreted as meaning the completion of the present section from Keighley to Crossflatts!

Because we had been painted into a corner by such fatuous and illogical rulings, my Ward Colleague on the Planning Committee, Councillor Malcolm Slater, and I decided to campaign openly against the application. This meant we had to declare an interest and could not vote.

However I wrote to the Secretary of State, John Prescott MP, asking him to call the application in and declare a moratorium on development of the site until a proper investigation of the site had been undertaken. Unfortunately I received a negative reply, after the date of the meeting, from John Prescott's deputy, Nick Rainsford MP. I did not regard this as a satisfactory response, therefore I intend, with the support of Ann Cryer MP, to write to the Parliamentary Ombudsman asking for a proper investigation of all aspects of the Swine Lane site.

CLLR MARTIN LEATHLEY,

Keighley North Councillor.

SIR - Immature comments like "get a life" (Cllr Barry Thorne KN 24.7.98) do nothing to enhance the poor opinion that people hold of Bradford Council throughout this region.

It may be appropriate to remind both Cllrs Thorne and Womersley that we still live in a democracy, not the dictatorship that they may possibly desire. Also people do have the right to object and this should not be met with rudeness or arrogance.

It does seem that anyone who disagrees with Bradford Council, or in the case of Keith Norris, capable of thinking two steps ahead of the average Labour Councillor, is met with this type of abuse.

R P BEALE,

Skipton Road,

Cononley.

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