Why can't they leave well alone?

SIR - The letter from E Mills of Wrose (T&A, January 16) regarding the planning and development of the Charlie Brown site in Otley Road, Shipley, is spot on.

Paragraphs two and three of the letter express exactly what we, the people of Shipley, want for Shipley central area - leave it as it is!

If the masterplan has cost us half a million pounds then Councillor Cooke should be surcharged - it is his mistake, we certainly do not want it.

In the T&A business section (November 25) was an article stating businesses would look to Sheffield and York rather than Bradford because the Bradford authority lacked "connectivity".

At the masterplan level this is self-evident - these planners did not connect with the needs of the people of Shipley.

The Odeon is another case of not heeding the will of Bradford people - a refusal to practise connectivity.

Regrettably, the recent record of Bradford Council seems to be a lack of joined-up thinking. Hats off to the planners who are trying to change that part of the masterplan.

Walter Metcalfe, Central Avenue, Shipley.

Let's get tough

SIR - As we read about stabbings etc often ending in murder, why are the perpetrators allowed to live?

It's time the law thought about the ones left to suffer, as it is a very wicked world we live in.

Let's introduce lethal injections for those convicted and the birch for lesser cases. Until something like this is done we will all live in fear.

D Burnett, Great Horton Road, Bradford.

Please vote 'no'

SIR - Baildon electors have been asked to vote on whether they want a Parish Council.

My vote will be 'no', for it is apparent from its terms of reference that the Council will be yet another talking shop with no significant executive authority.

Those who intend to vote 'yes' should accept that they are giving an open-ended approval.

The cost elsewhere in Bradford is currently quoted as being between £5 and £15 for band D properties.

Baildon properties, being mostly in higher-rating bands, will have to pay more than this and the cost is certain to be considerably more in a few years' time when we are irrevocably locked into the system.

This additional charge will be in the form of a precept added to the council tax. If one does not initially want a Parish Council, or later decides it is not worthwhile and on these bases declines to pay the precept, then (unless your name is Prescott) this could lead to eventual imprisonment.

Why can't those who want it, pay for it, and those who don't, opt out?

John Pashley, Westcliffe Avenue, Baildon.

The right to rule

SIR - John Hall (T&A, January 17) has a way with words but he should restrict it to his own and not other people's - especially not mine.

I have never praised New Labour nor have I praised strong and meaningful government. I favour quite a different verb.

I think that a party with 40 per cent of the votes has more right to govern us under the present system, than two or more parties with 50 per cent between them and who may well have to pander to a party with only five per cent in order to govern. We would be governed by the minority in each case.

PR has been proved to provide weak and short-term administrations and is why some countries have abandoned it.

I take it Mr Hall has voted Liberal all his life. I have never voted Labour (New or Old) but I have not always voted Tory.

If the Lib-Dems ever got their act together and put forward policies I thought were good for the country as a whole, I should seriously consider giving them my vote.

P E Bird, Nab Wood Terrace, Shipley.

No disrespect

SIR - I am sorry Brian Holmans (T&A, January 13) thought I was implying National Servicemen were just cannon fodder, snatched by the state.

Actually, the opposite is the truth. I have nothing but respect for any man or woman who has served this country, whether they were National Service or volunteers.

I volunteered in the Second World War, and served in France and Germany, yet I have received insults from some people in their fifties who have lived all their lives in peace as a result of our winning the war.

One even asked me if I got my medals from a charity shop.

That is the thanks you get from some people and is the reason I wrote my letter advising young men not to volunteer unless they were really sure it is what they want to do.

I was not insulting National Service because I believe in it.

N Brown, Peterborough Place, Undercliffe.

Less of the mess

SIR - The communities of Eldwick and Gilstead are obviously greatly concerned about the the environment and the health of the children in the area since people signed a petition against a further communications mast in their hundreds.

It is a shame these community members do not consider the environment and health of the local children when they let their dogs foul the streets and public places in the area.

As a mother of two small children I am constantly cleaning dog mess off footwear, prams and clothing and spend any walks constantly scanning the path ahead on a high state of alert.

Please show some consideration to other members of the community and clear it up before it does damage someone's health.

Mary Cuthbert, Gilstead Drive, Bingley.