Letters to the Editor

SIR - I write in response to the article 'Foundation Trusts are a Shambles' (T&A January 19).

In the article it was reported that in April the Government was so pleased with Bradford hospitals that they were granted Foundation Status and, as citizens of Bradford, we all felt very proud of the fact that our hospital trust was a beacon of excellence and the BRI and St Luke's were flagship hospitals.

It was made clear that the regulator Monitor was happy to grant the status of Foundation to Bradford on the information available.

Was there some information which was hidden from the regulator at the time - or is there some other explanation that the government is seeking to cover up?

Certainly the people of Bradford are surely entitled to demand an enquiry into a situation whereby Foundation Status is granted in April and by the end of the year the Trust is in debt to the tune of £11.3 million.

Do we really believe that Monitor has found the answer, that it was all the fault of John Ryan, or are there to be other casualties?

Colin Huntley, Grosvenor Road, Shipley.

Free tree service

SIR - I would not like your readers to be misled by the article and editorial (T&A, January 12) about Mr Graham's fallen tree.

There are in fact no expensive bureaucratic hoops to jump through. We make no charge for our services and require no form filling.

All we ask is that the owner provides us with some photographs to show that the tree came down from natural causes.

The owner can do whatever urgent work is necessary and we will deal with the Tree Preservation Order retrospectively.

If they are concerned about other trees on their property, they should seek the advice of an expert. We will also visit the site and agree what needs to be done.

Unfortunately, as the recent case in Heaton showed, there are people who will cut down trees where there is no good reason.

This means we have to strike a proper balance between providing an easy system for residents and protecting Bradford's status as a 'leafy city'.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, Environment Portfolio Holder, (Con, Ilkley), City Hall, Bradford.

l EDITOR'S NOTE: Getting an expert out to advise on the health of a tree IS an expensive business and having to provide photographic evidence and apply for retrospective planning permission is bureaucratic heavy-handedness in such circumstances. Our comment called for common sense and flexibility in such cases and we stand by that.

Missing mail

SIR - In response to Mrs D Davis (T&A, January 25) I am really getting fed up with the British Post Office and what they do with the mail.

A month ago, I mailed some photos to my sister, and she never received them. Then last week, I mailed some information to her and all she got was the front of the envelope!

When my sister called the Post Office she told them what was in it, and the lady on the phone said: "Well they weren't really important papers were they?"

What kind of a response was that? Suppose they were? We took the time to go and have the envelope weighed, stamped and sent, and that is not cheap.

The next 'important' mail I send to Bradford will have barbed wire round it - maybe then it won't get shredded to death, and maybe it will get to the person I mail it to.

Bring back the Pony Express!

Diane Duguid, E.4th St, Deer Park, New York.

Station truths

SIR - At last, some good news for Bradford: a new rail service to London and a new shopping development in the city centre. Just one problem, both projects need plenty of well-heeled customers to stay in business.

Where do most of the better-off people live? In the Aire and Wharfe valleys. Where do they spend their money? In Leeds of course.

Why would a businessman or woman from Ilkley or Skipton take a train to a remote isolated Forster Square and then trail across Bradford when they only have to walk a few yards at Leeds Station?

As for shoppers and night-time visitors, a well-used busy station is better than an unstaffed station down a deserted walkway.

The Council seems more interested in spending millions on an open sewer or a toy-town tram when all that is needed is a few yards of track to make the Interchange our main arrival and departure point.

What about cars? Do we have room for all the extra parking places? And, yes, I am a car owner.

G Rushworth, Falmouth Drive, Bradford.

Labour 'liars'

SIR - I must totally disagree with Mike Priestley's statement in his North of Watford column (T&A, January 22).

He says that it is a foregone conclusion that Labour will win the next election. May I inform him that a week is a long time in politics and anything could happen.

There must be something wrong with the British people's sense of democracy if they would re-elect a government proven to be deceitful liars.

Who took us into an illegal war from which we are still suffering and will continue to do so until we bring our troops back from Iraq?

Who made all these stealth taxes? Who tells you what to do from the moment you get up, until you go to bed, where you can smoke and where you can't; what to eat; how much to drink?

Who treats foreign countries better than it treats Britain, and wants to hand us over to the tender mercies of Europe?

This government reminds me of Germany in 1936, or Chaplin's film The Great Doctator.

N Brown, Peterborough Place, Undercliffe.