Letters to the editor

I would like to make it clear to Mike Healey and other members of the cycling community that Bierley is not anti-cyclist. Indeed they are most welcome!

So much so that we made provision for cyclists by putting a cycling path in our recently-installed multi-thousand pound road traffic-calming scheme.

They can now ride in relative safety in Bierley Lane and enter East Bowling via the new cycling path across Rooley Lane.

What needs to be recognised by Bradford Cycling Action Group is that not all users of such a path in our woods would behave as responsibly as they might. Opening the woods to potentially unsociable activity is simply unacceptable to us.

Our woods are a much-valued, pleasant and peaceful place for residents and enjoyed by local anglers.

Ward councillors and Bierley residents are determined to keep it that way!

Councillor John Ruding, Bierley Lane, Bradford 4.

SIR - Thank you for your coverage of our views on the extension of the Spen Valley Cycle Way. I would like to point out that Councillor Ruding exaggerates the "multi-thousand pounds" cost of the existing cycle provision on Bierley Lane.

All it required was putting down paint on the tarmac and cycle lane signage. It actually reduced the cost of the traffic-calming build-outs, since the lane continued between them and the pavement at road level, thereby saving the expense of joining the build-outs to the pavement. Sadly, the changes to the road layout and their attendant costs were prompted, not by us appalling cyclists, but by motorists regularly driving too fast along a 30 mph limit road.

But Councillor Ruding prefers not to mention that. He's too busy supporting the nimbyism of the residents of the (very new) houses which the route passes.

The Minister of Transport's foreword to the National Cycling Strategy says: "It is crystal clear that the bicycle has been underrated and under-used in the UK for many years", and: "There is enormous potential to increase the use of cycles in Britain".

Sustrans routes and cycle lanes on roads will play their part in the continuing growth in cycling of the last two or three years.

Mike Healey (spokesman, Bradford Cycling Action Group), Dyehouse Road, Oakenshaw.

SIR - Once again the T&A has carried a photograph of people complaining about rubbish being dumped in their area - this time Spring Gardens - with the local councillor saying he will do his best to make sure the Council takes action.

For goodness sake, who makes the mess in the first place? Where I live it's local residents who have no pride. No doubt it is the same in Spring Gardens as elsewhere.

I'm fed up of the Council getting the blame and the onus being put on it to clear the rubbish spots. Is it any wonder we have infestations of rats and mice. Our pride in our city has vanished through people's selfishness.

Mrs Joyce Bean, Lilycroft Walk, Bradford 9.

SIR - Just how many crises do we have in this country?

The asylum crisis: Last year there were 71,160 seeking to make Britain their home. That figure represents the head of families seeking asylum, because it's far better here than it is over there. If you add wives, children and grannies the figure would be much higher.

The drug crisis: The use of heroin among the young is said to be spreading from run-down estates and "inner cities" to provincial towns and even country areas, so what's the strategy? An anti-drugs co-ordinator. No amount of co-ordination will stop people taking drugs. In our tolerant society every agency of persuasion is devoted to making young people believe the purpose of living is to secure the greatest amount of pleasure, most readily through drugs and sex.

The prison crisis: Our prisons are coming under criticism from the inspector of prisons. The point is whether we want prisons with soft options or whether we want prisons where prisoners (yes, drug pushers, thieves, muggers, not forgetting murderers) are disciplined and where these offenders never want to return again.

E Redman, Strawberry Fields, Keighley.

SIR - How sad that some individuals feel the need to exercise so often, as mentioned in the Just Relax! supplement in the T&A (February 27). They need to take a step back from all that exercise.

I saw a programme on TV a few years ago which showed that animals confined to areas which restricted their freedom had developed repetitive movements which produced endorphines. These chemicals stimulated the brain and gave them the same buzz that either freedom or taking drugs would have had.

Apparently the feeling of "something not being right" when they do not exercise is akin to drug withdrawal.

Take care that you do not overdo the exercise. Regular exercise is essential but anything which becomes obsessive is not good.

Denise Musk, Fernbank Drive, Baildon.

SIR - I am trying to trace a relative of mine, a Mrs Jean Burke, or Birk, who lived in Priestley Walk, Pudsey, about 20 years ago.

I would be interested in contacting her and any other members of the family who may still be living in the area.

Mrs P Lambert, 6 Tedder Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 9ES.