Letters to the Editor

SIR, - I was dismayed to learn, through your paper last week, the possibility that the Windmill Club will, from September, be unable to use Cross Green Centre for their meetings.

During Millennium Year it was my privilege to work with the Windmill Club members and Ron Sweeney and his band of dedicated helpers to produce an item for inclusion in The Alternative Domesday Book.

The enjoyment and pleasure that the members, many of them with severe mental disabilities, gained from the work they produced was wonderful to see and also a humbling experience.

The club is something they look forward to, where they can meet friends on a regular basis. Rather than depriving them of the run down premises that are available to them now, the authorities should be falling over backwards to make sure that they have full use of the renovated Cross Green Centre.

As a retired primary school teacher, I fully appreciate and support the need for groups like the After School Club. Do they need to use the premises for so long each day that Cross Green Centre is going to be solely for their use and unavailable to other Otley organisations in the evenings?

If the Windmill Club has to move, then I trust that the authorities will ensure that alternative premises are found for them as quickly as possible.

Pam Pears

32 Cambridge Grove

Otley.

Amenities lost

SIR, - As Otley attractions disappear into the next 'Old Otley Book' before our very eyes, it's time people were encouraged to support local events to keep then alive.

We have seen the demise of police, schools, buses, swimming pools, boats on the river, and toilets. Otley used to be a thriving market town but has been brought down by being ruled by Leeds City Council.

They offer us hare-brained ideas like a skateboarding park and playgrounds costing £25,000 to update, so the vandals have somewhere to play late at night, or art centres or, better still, an illegal gypsy camp on the main road into Otley that boasts ensuite facilities, phone and TV lines and taxi services all provided by Leeds.

So it was with delight that I heard today that Bridge End Auction Mart will once again this Sunday be holding a car boot sale. It's wonderful that somebody believes in fetching something to Otley that gives not only pleasure to a great deal of locals, but also fetches trade to dying Otley before, like the signposts entering Otley from every direction, we will be wiped off the map by Leeds City Council for good.

D Kerr

45 Newall Close,

Otley.

Loss of cinema

SIR, - Councillor John Eveleigh's overlong explanation over the loss of our cinema said far more about the ethos of the Labour politics than it did about the loss of a town facility.

Had he simply admitted failure and said' sorry' he would deserve far more respect. But no, that is not the New Labour way. 'Failure' and 'sorry' are not in their vocabulary. They are far too arrogant for that.

In essence, what he was saying was, the loss of the cinema was a commercial decision, over which he had little control. Perhaps, but had this been a facility for the aristocracy or donor to the Labour Party might the outcome have been different?

May I remind John, he is a member of the Labour Party which is in control. We have a Labour City Council and a Labour Government, so if a method of preserving and funding a town facility could not be found, it is Labour's fault.

Is there really no way this building could have been protected by listed building status or grants which could have been used? God knows, Otley has little enough in the way of leisure facilities. Money was found in an instant for the Blair's nursery at number 10, but the people of Otley can do without. Should not Otley have a Town Architect to advise the council?

Recently, retired architect Peter Kelly made a valuable contribution with suggestions on the proposed Sainsbury development. It is this kind of knowledgeable and professional input we need to reshape the town.

Could we not appoint an Honorary Architect to oversee plans and development, particularly since there is so much that is under consideration i.e. the new library, Civic Centre and Sainsbury's. There is much to do in Otley, some of which is obvious and would cost little. But our councillors are too busy playing petty party politics to notice. John ended his letter with petty party politics. This is something he has a great propensity for, as was shown when he proposed the vote of 'no confidence' against Mayor Nigel Francis.

If a vote of no confidence was to be made, it should have been against the whole council for its incompetence and inability to communicate with each other. If they cannot agree on a simple matter of arranging a date for the Mayor making, what hope has the town of solving its many problems?

Malcolm Naylor

21 Grange View,

Otley..

New constitution

SIR, - So at last we have woken up and realised that over the last year in Brussels a European Constitution has been drafted. The Convention that was set the task of doing this was no big secret, it has been meeting in public, comprising elected government ministers, national MPs and MEPs and members of civil society.

It has tried to seek the views of European society at large, but until now in Britain it has been impossible to get a debate on the issue at all. Why was this convention given the task of coming up with a proposal for a constitution? Very simply because the European Union is getting larger, from 15 to 25 members states. To accommodate this, the decision-making structure has to be simplified and clarified.

Government Ministers in their last big meeting in Nice failed to produce the answers.

The draft constitution spells out what decisions should be taken at European level. This will give the kind of transparency about the workings of Europe that have never been available to our citizens before. They can clearly see what Europe is responsible for, rather than searching the impossible legalise of umpteen treaties.

The proposed constitution actually gives more powers to national parliaments than they have enjoyed up until now. They could have rights both to initiate legislation and certainly have the right to intervene if they do not like the look of something coming from Brussels.

The truth is that a kind of 'federal' Europe already exists. Within Europe all countries face many similar problems, so we work together and some 60 per cent of new laws passed in Britain now have had some European involvement.

We are not told what to do by others. British Ministers help shape laws which are equally binding on other EU countries and as MEPs we do the same in the European Parliament.

We work within the EU because the world is now dominated by international organisations that no one country can control. Multinational companies have tentacles everywhere. Financial speculators can destroy national currencies at the touch of a keyboard.

Organised crime pays no more heed to national boundaries than does environmental pollution. This is not the result of some plot by foreigners; it is a simple reality with which European legislators have to deal.

If the current hysteria about the proposed EU constitution makes us debate our relationship with Europe then so much the better. I am one of those who believe that we would have benefited from a debate and a referendum at each Treaty change.

Previous Labour and Conservative Governments have denied us that possibility. If we as Britons are ever to be comfortable with our position as Europeans we have to have this debate and if the Government denies the people a referendum on the final result of the proposed constitution it, like its predecessors, will find that Europe could be its downfall.

Diana Wallis

Liberal Democrat MEP,

Yorkshire and the Humber,

Land of Green Ginger,

Hull..

More bureaucracy

SIR, - We will soon be asked to vote in a referendum on whether we would want a Yorkshire Assembly.

Why on earth do the local Labour MPs think people want another layer of government and bureaucracy? A Yorkshire parliament would be an expensive white elephant full of failed political cronies.

If Labour believe that things should be decided more locally they should hand more powers to the local councils, not make decisions more remote at a regional level.

The greatest irony is that the local Labour MPs who are so keen for an expensive referendum on a Yorkshire parliament that few people want, are the same people who oppose a referendum on the new European constitution, which transfers vast powers out of this country altogether.

So much for having decisions taken at a more local level!

PHILIP DAVIES

Prospective Conservative

Parliamentary candidate,

Shipley Constituency.

Wonderful day

SIR, - As a senior citizen of Yeadon, I went on the annual Yeadon charities day trip to Bridlington on June 21.

We had a wonderful day out and were well looked after, thanks to the committee who organised it so well.

One of the highlights of the day was our return down Yeadon High Street led by the RAF cadets of 2168 squadron. I understand that they stepped in at short notice and they did a magnificent job. Saluting the coaches as we passed by made us feel extra special. May I thank Yeadon Brass Band who for many years have greeted our return and given much pleasure and have sadly had to disband.

Once again thanks to everyone concerned.

Mrs P L Freeman

33 Banksfield Avenue,

Yeadon.

Wonderful folk

SIR, - I would like to thank the postman for bringing home my dog today, how kind. Thanks also to all involved in Otley Carnival. Wonderful. These are the folk who make Otley a better place to be.

Sara P Drake

Station Road

Otley.