Letters to the Editor

In the absence of public debate the most obvious source of opinion, the consumer, is ignored. Ask regular shoppers locally and that figure would probably be reversed

Presented with the real opportunity to shop locally for wide ranges of food and non food at Asda prices or capturing those who currently migrate their shopping to Asda at Shipley, Colne or Burnley, the Asda proposals are likely to be welcomed. Consumers are entitled to choice and it should not be denied.

Not long ago the Keighley News reported aspirations for the region to be world class, yet when presented with the interest of a world class operator, which Asda surely is, there is call for its rejection.

With the exit of the Co-op from the town centre Keighley shoppers currently have a much restricted choice for local full range food shopping. The enhanced Morrisons may be excellent but the long term demise of Sainsbury's gives little comfort that it will improve to offer appropriate competitive shopping. Too often the goods are just not on the shelves.

The Keighley consumer deserves more choice.

As a retailer with a single small shop in Keighley I share concern for the economic prosperity for the town centre. However, I believe this is more likely to be achieved by encouraging additional retail activity of all types, particularly quality operators who will stimulate traffic flow and enhance Keighley as a desirable retail presence. How else are we to stem the migration of local shopping to superstores elsewhere or the major shopping centres of Leeds, Sheffield or Manchester? Customers go there for the choice, and likewise towns only thrive if they continue to provide consumers with more shopping choice. Denying competition is unrealistic and misguided.

In this case a further point is forgotten. If Asda are denied this local opportunity they will find another. A far greater danger to a thriving town centre is that a superstore, be it Asda, Tesco or whoever, becomes established nearby yet sufficiently far that shopping traffic is drawn away from Keighley centre without any encouragement to return.

The proposed Asda site is within walking distance from the bus station, as is Morrisons. Since its refurbishment, shopping traffic from Morrisons to the town centre has reportedly increased, facts supporting the view that a good superstore nearby extends town centre shopping activity. Developed appropriately, in conjunction with community needs, an Asda could do likewise.

John Fletcher

Fletchers Stationery

Cavendish Street,

SIR - I was pleased that Mike Smith wrote to you regarding the Asda proposal as he raises a number of common misconceptions.

First is that local business people are worried about competition -- this is not so, they face competition every day. What they are worried about is annihilation -- which is what it would be if a store the size of Asda were to open just outside town. They worry not about the competition but about their livelihoods, and in many cases I suspect their homes as well -- because many will have their homes as collateral to finance their businesses. So they could lose their business and their home.

Secondly, Asda is not just a supermarket but stocks a range of goods which will affect not only many small traders but also larger ones such as Boots, Marks & Spencer, Dixons, WH Smiths etc. If these chains decide that Keighley is no longer viable and close down, like United has closed the former Co-op Foodfair, then the whole Airedale centre will become unattractive and Keighley will indeed become a ghost town.

Thirdly, Asda will not create any new jobs. A lot of people will be shipped in from other Asda stores and then they will only soak up the people they have just made unemployed in the town. Few opportunities for skilled workers, but lots of low paid shelf stackers and checkout staff.

Fourthly, as Keighley is already strangled by traffic, can you imagine the chaos that would be created by a superstore opposite the fire station?

Fifth, it is also interesting to note that Mr Smith thinks Shipley and Colne are "doing ok", most people seem to think they are still struggling after being hit by Asda.

Sixth, the referendum Mr Smith wants has in fact already been carried out. Asda distributed a voting card to every house in town asking for support. Only 180 people voted in favour, which means that 50,000 are against the idea.

Seventh, local businesses spend money with other local businesses in the town, joiners, painters, electricians, cafes, restaurants and so on. Asda will ship all their profits to the shareholders in America.

David Petyt

President

Keighley Chamber of Trade

SIR - I appreciate the concerns of the town centre business community, as I have often found that supermarket complexes on the edges of towns are very busy whilst the inner shops are relatively less so.

I am all in favour of this approach as it means I can wander about the town centres looking at the variety of goods available (which collectively exceeds that of any supermarket) without the hassle of negotiating seething masses. I abhor the bland sameness of these large supermarkets with their helter-skelter approach to customer service, their insistence on loud noises emanating from the ceilings, their glaring arc lights and their general ethos of financial gain at any cost to the quality of life within their walls.

Does Keighley itself need one of these edifices? We already have Morrisons and Sainsbury's, along with lesser, but very important players such as the Co-operative with its spread of excellent stores around the area.

Morrisons I find to be very chaotic, with narrow, cluttered aisles which do not follow on in any coherent fashion, leading me to think that I am following the trail to jams and preserves, only to find myself faced with shelves of stockings and female sanitary items. The staff are often surly and unhelpful, and when I point out that I am helping to pay their wages, respond, if at all, in a most couldn't-care-less manner.

Sainsbury's is, on the face of it, a big improvement. The aisles do follow a recognisable pattern and are spacious, although still prone to clutter at busy times, although this is a necessity created by the need to restock the shelves and the staff do appear to endeavour to keep this activity down to a minimum within peak shopping hours. The big drawback here, as far as I am concerned, is that such a lot of shelf space is given over to what I can only describe as "foreign muck" rather than good traditional fare. Perhaps I am a culinary dinosaur!

In many instances the shelf price ticket bears no relationship to the wares on that particular shelf, making it very difficult to keep a track of one's spending. So much of the floor is given over to a pharmacy, general kitchenware, clothing and entertainment - following the example set by Asda, perhaps?

Does Keighley need another supermarket? Yes, in order to shake these two out of their complacency -- but I am not at all convinced that Asda, with its very aggressive Americanised attitude, is the right one for this town.

Keith Sunderland

Exley Avenue

Keighley

SIR - "God is love" wrote Saint John in his first letter in the Bible, and yet I have heard Christians blaming God for the terrible disaster that came upon SE Asia on Boxing Day.

"Where was God," they ask, "when the wall of water swept away children, and men and women and drowned them in the muddy ocean?" He was right beside them, loving them and suffering with them. No loving father would mistreat his children in that way.

The environment follows stable laws, and although I believe that God could break them, I do not think he does. Life would not be dependable if he did. Do not blame God for the actions of nature. The world is following its own pattern.

We make our short-term weather forecasts, but are unable to see what is happening in the longer-term.

We cannot blame God for our neglect of the provision of an early warning system of likely flooding.

Likewise, global warming is our own responsibility. It is coming about through our own vested interest. We drive large cars when small ones would be quite adequate; we crave more and more manufactured labour-saving devices; we release harmful chemicals into the atmosphere, without any thought for the future.

It is hard to find any good in this disaster, but I think there are two things for which we must be grateful. One is how so many people have responded to the call for money to be given to the Disaster Fund. The other is how people of all Faiths and none have been able to work together in the relief work.

I pray that the charity that is showing itself at present may develop and grow, and that people of different Faiths will continue to work together.

Rev Michael Chapman

SIR - On behalf of the members of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), we are writing to thank your readers for their generous response to the Tsunami Earthquake Appeal.

Over £100 million has now been donated by the British public, with nearly £5 million from Yorkshire alone, and the total is rising every day.

Aid agencies are already bringing clean water, medicine, food and clothes to the survivors. But much remains to be done and we need more money. The DEC is asking the public to keep donating online at www.dec.org.uk, by telephone on 0870 60 60 900, or at any high street bank or post office.

The members of the DEC are World Vision, Tearfund, Save the Children Fund, Oxfam, Merlin, Help the Aged, Concern, Christian Aid, CARE, CAFOD, British Red Cross and ActionAid.

This crisis has proved beyond doubt that British people care about others thousands of miles away across the globe. 2005 offers an unprecedented opportunity to tackle the injustice of a world in which survivors of a tsunami die from diarrhoea, cholera and malaria because they are poor.

Our hope for 2005 is that the generosity of ordinary people shown to the victims of the tsunami is the beginning of a real determination to do more to end the avoidable suffering which natural disasters, conflict and poverty inflict on so many men, women and children in poor countries.

The UK can take a lead internationally at the annual G8 gathering of the leaders of rich countries in Scotland in July, and as president of the European Union.

Now, more than ever, world leaders need to increase aid, give debt relief and reform unfair world trade rules.

In 2005 charities, such as some of the DEC members, are joining forces with faith groups, trade unions, campaigning groups and celebrities in a global call to Make Poverty History.

Earthquakes and tsunamis may be unavoidable. Poverty is not. For more information see www.makepovertyhistory.org

Steve Chapman,

Cafod Regional Manager,

Lindsay Pearson,

Christian Aid Area

Co-ordinator,

Jonathan Dorsett,

Oxfam

Northern Campaigner,

Gill Thurgood,

Tearfund Regional Manager

All C/O Oxfam, Leeds

SIR - Regarding the letter concerning game birds. How can it be natural and wild when I have seen hundreds of young birds bred and brought up in cages before being released?

Birds in the wild do not start off in cages and are not shot at by so-called sportsmen (pathetic persons who think it's "big" to shoot small defenceless birds).

What a load of rubbish to say hunting, shooting and fishing benefits the countryside. Nature sorts itself out if left alone. How does rearing birds to shoot them, and rearing fox cubs to hunt them help nature? It's just excuses that the horrible, disgusting medievals try to use to justify animal cruelty as a sport.

No one should eat game birds that someone has shot for sport, as you would just be supporting them. It's also best not to eat any meat, as animals raised for food can suffer terrible cruelty. How can you eat dead animals!

SAMUEL MOSS

Thornhill Avenue,

Oakworth.