Traffic calming is a waste of money

For the last two weekends (and next weekend too) the road between Hebden and Grassington has been closed by North Yorkshire highways department, supposedly to install traffic calming measures. The only thing it is creating is neighbourhood rage.

What do we get? Stone setts laid in the road flush with its surface, making pretty patterns in the road. Across each road entrance off Hebden Road rows of raised granite setts with a footpath laid on top of them. (If this is for wheelchairs, lowering the kerbstones would have been a lot cheaper)

It appears to me and everybody I have spoken to, to be a complete waste of money not to mention the total inconvenience to so many people. People say it's costing a fortune, the real cost I don't know. But after foot and mouth the last thing I needed was for the road to be closed ALL day Saturday and Sunday one month after the footpaths have been opened and trade had started to slightly pick up.

Everybody is of the opinion that this project is a complete waste of public money and something that the locals did not want. Somebody who did not know Grassington devised this scheme. Hebden road is naturally calmed by cars parked on the road, virtually every time you drive along you have to stop to allow other cars to proceed.

Grassington Main Street in summer is impossible to drive at speed due to the road being full of pedestrians and old people walking on the road because the setts on the square are dangerous. Many examples of the elderly falling over on the setts have been witnessed in recent years; the setts may look nice but try walking on them.

May I suggest whoever's brain-dead idea this was should resign immediately for wasting tax payers' money, this includes all parish, county, and district councillors who have condoned this idiotic money wasting scheme. It is an abdication of their duty in supervising the spending of public money to the best effect. No wonder the public now hold all politicians in contempt.

The employees of North Yorkshire highways department should also take the blame; they will have drawn up the scheme and put it in front of the councillors. This follows the total waste of public money creating a bus shelter in the car park at Grassington and car park changes costing £120,000 for what? - for buses that carry very few people.

We have a subsidised bus service riding round the countryside with no one on them. May I suggest that North Yorkshire get on with repairing the roads where there are holes that need filling.

I presume the traffic lights will be at Cracoe for three or four months, like they were last time flooding burst the road open. Or could they get the staff to check that all water channels are regularly cleaned so that when it rains the road does not flood, which seems to happen a lot these days.

It appears to me that there is a lot of spare money going around, yet we will face about 10 per cent increase in our rates in April. Why? Why should we as tax payers allow this total waste of money to go on, when core services that councillors are elected to supervise on our behalf are allowed to decline. It is time we, the public, stood up against this.

By the way, a message to the residents of Embsay, you should take a ride up to Grassington and see what they do, before you get lumbered as well.

Ken Lakin,

The Clarendon, Hebden.

No consultation

SIR - I must put forward an opposite opinion for the measures recommended for Eastby in a letter attributed to me last week.

In my opinion "change for change's sake, is no change at all" sums up the measures proposed for Eastby. As your writer suggests, road signs are not an effective means of controlling speed.

This is obvious from the lack of control from the present sign at the bottom of Eastby bank which indicates the speed limit over the next 2.5 miles. Just how pretty coloured road markers and removal of a white centre line will succeed where the current signs do not, is beyond my comprehension.

The other folly in the plan, is the change of priority at the junction of Kirk Lane and Main Street. I use this junction regularly from all directions, and find no difficulty if the stop-sign is observed. If this priority is changed it will send traffic onto Main Street at speed straight into a 20 mph calming "build-out" directly outside the children's playground, which is illogical. (These people call themselves planners?)

I think that there is a similar problem here, as with my letter of the week before, that there is no consultation between interested parties, i.e. lack of respect for others.

K Briggs,

Croft House, Eastby.

Editor's note: A letter on Embsay traffic calming in last week's Herald was wrongly attributed to Mr Briggs instead of a Mr D Fletcher, also from Eastby. We apologise to both correspondents. Mr Fletcher's opinions have sparked the above response from Mr Briggs!

Finite number

SIR - Allow me to respond to Mrs Gardt's letter about the proposed takeaway published in your paper on February 22.

Having had my own business, I fully endorse enterprise and new business ventures in Skipton and agree with Mrs Gardt's opinion that there is an abundance of some types of businesses in Skipton, in her estimation these include charity and mobile telephone shops.

We also have an abundance of excellent and established fast food outlets in Skipton, we can only tolerate a finite number of similar establishments otherwise some traders will be forced out of business.

I welcome the shop in question being re-opened to be a thriving community-based business which could possibly include a sub-post office, rather than a further fast food outlet.

Personally I place a much greater importance on the loss of Broughton Road's sub-post office; this was an important business and benefited our community, the loss of which, coupled with the inconvenience caused, was felt by many 'Broughton Roaders', particularly the elderly and infirm, forcing everyone to use either the main Town Post Office with its lengthy queues or even further away Middletown sub-post office.

Surely, if the proposed new housing development at the end of Marton Street goes ahead, we could then put forward an argument to re-establish a new sub-post office on Broughton Road which would benefit everyone in our community.

Councillor Andrew Rankine

Skipton Town Councillor

Vets' gratitude

SIR - It is now eight months since the foot and mouth centre opened in Gisburn and it finally closed last month.

During the height of its activity, scores of vets from many nations worked out of it, and it was a wonderful example of international co-operation and teamwork.

From Wensleydale to Craven and Airedale, hundreds of cattle have been inspected and thousands of sheep blood-tested, first to ensure that the disease had indeed gone away, and recently to monitor farms as they restock. Anxious times have given way to hopeful anticipation as the farming year starts again.

Farming families across the area have worked hard to round-up sheep on the prescribed dates so that groups of vets and their assistants could do their work. Most of these people left the centre before Christmas as the work contracted, but on behalf of them, and the few of us still here, I would like to record with pride, the welcome and hospitality which has been extended to us over the months.

Many drinks, sandwiches and even whole meals have been prepared, and many friendships developed.

Vets from Europe and across the world have enjoyed reporting how warmly they have been received, proving that Dales hospitality is a living reality, and not just a thing imagined by the tourist guides.

It gives me great pleasure to pass on our thanks to the farming community.

Anthony Smith MRCVS

Temporary Veterinary Inspector

Gisburn FMD Centre.

Unavoidable

SIR - In response to Reverend Dalby's letter (Craven Herald February 22) regarding the closure of Clapham National Park Centre at the end of 2002, it is important that I place the authority's decision in context.

The proposal has come as a result of a "best value review" of the whole of the National Park Authority's "promoting understanding" services. This includes the work that the authority undertakes to engage with the public through its National Park Centres, the media, its publications and website, its events and its education service. The authority is required by Government to undertake "best value reviews" of all its services to ensure that it is spending public money wisely and to best effect across the park.

The current "promoting understanding" review looked at, amongst other things, all the national park centres and concluded that some were more effective than others at reaching a wide audience of local communities and visitors.

With approximately 31,000 visitors per year, ignoring the figures for 2001, Clapham was one of the least visited sites, dealing with approximately five per cent of visitors counted through the authority's seven national park centres. With low visitor numbers and the associated high costs, the decision was taken that the money from the centre could be better spent.

However, let me assure you that the decision to close the national park centre in Clapham was not arrived at easily or lightly. There is no question that the level of service provided by the staff there is of a high quality, and particularly so during the last difficult year.

Despite closing the centre in Clapham at the end of 2002, until then we will continue to provide a service in the area and in the meantime we will look at other ways of providing alternative services, possibly by working in partnership with other organisations.

The decision also needs to be looked at within the broader context of the review. The review concluded that the authority invested the vast majority of its efforts to provide information to visitors once they reach the national park. As a result, it recommended that the authority should be doing more to reach out to the wider public beyond the national park boundary.

In the post foot and mouth climate we cannot wait until visitors are here to tell them that the area is special, we need to reach them before and so encourage them to visit. With limited resources hard decisions have to be made, yet the savings we make from closing Clapham will be reinvested to take the national park message beyond the national park boundary and help rebuild post foot and mouth.

Steve Macar,

Chairman,

Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

Action welcomed

SIR - I was most pleased to read (Craven Herald, February 15) that my request to Skipton Town Council last June and also that a letter published in your newspaper about the dreadfully sad state of the Raikes Cemetery had borne fruit.

It is encouraging to hear the council, despite the call on limited finances, is undertaking to tend to these areas which, I am sure, will be appreciated by those who have interests in these burial grounds.

The Raikes cemetery in particular is reasonably central to the town and, as has been pointed out, is full of interest. The next time my family and I visit the grave of my great, great grandfather, William Moorhouse, licensee of the Craven Heifer, I trust entry will be easily accessible and we won't have to climb over gates to get in.

Many thanks to the council for their giving time and understanding to a problem which these days is overlooked - I am sure their diligence will pay dividends in time.

Margaret Moorhouse,

Summerhill Avenue, Steeton.

Bad behaviour

SIR - I read the Craven Herald every week and am disgusted at the punishment, or non-punishment, of young offenders given by Skipton magistrates.

I was in the hotel business for many years, but never had to suffer the indignity of the landlord of the Royal Oak. I consider it time that punishment should fit the crime and that magistrates become more responsible for the behaviour of under age drinkers.

I have worked in Skipton, but would not want to at the present time.

I think it is a disgrace that a lovely market town, Gateway to the Dales, tolerates this sort of behaviour at night week after week.

Betty Holgate,

Lower Greenfoot, Settle.

Cruel trade

SIR - The welcome end of the foot and mouth epidemic brings with it one real danger: the resumption of the cruel live animal export trade.

The suffering of sheep and lambs in severely over-crowded trucks, often without food or water, for journeys which can last for 40 hours or more, is a practice that must never resume.

Before foot and mouth the UK was exporting around 800,000 lambs and sheep a year, many being sent all the way to Italy, Greece and Spain.

Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) investigations have revealed that animals suffer terribly during the long journeys to southern Europe.

Instead of live exports, animals could be slaughtered here in Britain, with our exports being in meat form.

Now foot and mouth is at an end, many people want to see farming go forward in a way which is humane and sustainable and not to be tarnished by the cruelty of these live exports.

G Hamilton,

Burnroyd Avenue, Cross Hills.

Unsightly mess

SIR - I recently received an interesting newsletter from Coun Philip Barrett containing many aspects of the local scene.

One of particular interest dealt with the upgrading of the pelican crossings in Cross Hills to new puffin crossings. Not being an ornithologist, I am unable to tell the difference between a pelican and a puffin - but the only difference I can see as a xenophobic, Eurosceptic Yorkshireman is an unsightly rust-coloured mess defacing the main street of Cross Hills.

Matthew Ridge,

Highgate, Cross Hills.

Nasty feeling

SIR - I wish to add my comments to those made by Peggy Turner in last week's Craven Herald. I was also at the planning meeting she attended and, while accurate, her comments did not go far enough.

When the vote was taken I also felt that it was a foregone conclusion but what I found extremely worrying was that at least three members had to be reminded as to which way they were voting. Not what I would expect in a free vote.

Also, there was a proposed site visit at approximately 11.20am and quite a large contingent of objectors arrived to enable the council to see the size of the body of objectors. They stood in the pouring rain only to be told that the council had been and gone by 11am - fortuitous or what?

To my mind the whole procedure has left a very nasty feeling behind.

Anita Montgomery,

Burnside Avenue, Skipton.

Support for band

SIR - The pupils and staff at Aireville School would like to thank the Skipton Mechanics' Institute and the Skipton Rotary Club for their very generous sponsorship for the school band. The pupils have always enjoyed performing at concerts and community events and the annual tour of the primary schools has become a well-established part of the school calendar.

Now, thanks to the generosity of these organisations, many more pupils will have the opportunity to take part in these events, with a new and even wider repetoire. We are very grateful for their support.

David Croll,

Headmaster,

Aireville School, Skipton

Indignities

SIR - I read the Craven Herald's item on scandalous tales of Skipton and particularly about the Sir Matthew Wilson statue.

One early Sunday morning in 1955 I was called out in my capacity as council employee to carry out emergency repairs to the town hall boiler which had broken down.

Myself and Ron Quigley, along with Maurice Clarkson, plumber, arrived at the Town Hall and when we looked across at Sir Matthew he had a chamber pot on his head.

How it got there I don't know but we had to get a ladder to remove it before the faithful came past on their way to church.

S Phillips,

Keighley Road, Skipton.