Letters to the Editor

However, South Mill is a totally different matter. It is the one which stands out - not only so prominently on Bradford's skyline but, arguably, as the UK's grandest and most impressive factory building.

It is therefore essential that we as a society must have the wit to save this jewel of the nation's industrial heritage and not commit an act of negligence by allowing it to be demolished.

The mill's fire-resisting construction via its dominantly brick-built walls (the stone is only a facing) and jack arch floors, and the latter's higher-than-normal loading capacity, combined with its huge volume and floor-space, are major assets to any developer.

South Mill is therefore the ideal place to store the nation's valuable and irreplaceable historical, legal, and social documents.

Bradford already boasts the most successful National Museum of Photography, Film and Television and I suggest would also be a most suitable venue for a National Archive and Records Centre housed in this unique building fitting and worthy of the project with the final benefit of vacant possession.

W David Moorhouse, Lister Lane, Bradford.

SIR - Re Professor Power's plan (T&A, January 19) for scattering ethnic groups across the district. Funny how the wealthy are never challenged to fit in with some social engineer's fancy. The poor, of whom Bradford has many, are always problems.

Let's do some joined-up thinking (residual socialists will remember the phrase). Urban Splash have applied for outline planning permission to put in 135 flats and American-style lofts in Lister's empty shell of Bradford's shame - Manningham Mills.

This will draw in lots of people who do not see living on a designer estate stuck on the edge of a cute village as desirable but who prefer vibrant, colourful streets with restaurants in Oak Lane and authentic pubs in Lumb Lane.

So why not link the money going to Professor Power's ideas with the money Bradford already has through its SRBs too numerous to mention and some Yorkshire Forward genuine leadership?

That way we'll get population mix without the cultural showdown we have just now and a lot more people that will make Bradford go places.

George Moffat, Selborne Grove, Bradford.

SIR - I am writing to add my thoughts about Mike Oliver to Geoff Mallinson's comments about him (Letters, January 2).

I too had the pleasure of singing with Mike at the Prospect pub in Baltow Road. If he didn't know the song, he would busk it with the singer and eventually pick it up.

All my friends really enjoyed nights at the Prospect but no more, as Mike's services were dispensed with two weeks ago.

We don't know why, as he did a very good job and earned his wages.

I hope he can get a job somewhere else where he will be appreciated for the good entertainment he is.

Mrs S Doran, Loughrigg Street, Bradford 5.

SIR - In answer to Mr Clark's letter about asylum-seekers, as I said in my original letter, I do not support these bully-boy tactics on these people, but I understand the tenants' reactions to them getting preferential treatment by Council and Government.

I'm sorry, Mr Clark, but I feel if this went to a referendum you would find a majority don't want these people given preferential treatment over other tenants.

The reference to the holocaust and racist card has not stifled my opinion as he had probably intended, or my right to say what I think.

Peter Wood, Ranelagh Avenue, Ravenscliffe

SIR - I do not think England should take in any more asylum-seekers except the really genuine ones.

It is not right for the English people, who have been here for generations, to see their country swamped with people from other countries, receiving free houses and other things besides.

I have come from India, born and brought up there. I don't think any other country would act in this way. It is the Government to blame, people like Jack Straw.

I have been living in England for a long while. It is not the English who are racists, but the other way around.

Mrs V Wright, Fairbank Road, Bradford.

SIR - Regarding recent letters about asylum-seekers, they are not responsible for supplying the double glazing one writer has been waiting for or the two years of harassment another has been subjected to, sad though that is.

Yes, it is tough for many people in this country, but we are not subject to the horrors that some of the asylum-seekers have had to endure.

Sixteen years ago, I was privileged to become friends with a Chilean, who had been saved from certain death by the Red Cross who visited the prison where he was being kept - his "cell" was a hole in the ground with a grille over it.

His eldest son had been shot in the head in front of him, his wife had been tortured as he had. His crime? He was a trade unionist. He criticised the Pinochet Government.

He became a miner in Derbyshire, when there were still pits. Not exactly an easy job. Not exactly an easy life.

Those letter-writers ought to remember that in other countries people could be locked up or much worse for expressing their opinions about the Government or the Council as they have.

Alan Anderton, Selborne Villas, Clayton.

SIR - I was intrigued to read your report on the the Bingley Environmental Transport Association who are writing to the European Commission with a view to blocking the bypass. I am as confident as Chris Leslie MP that everything will have been taken into account over this project.

Don't these people have cars or try to travel through Bingley during the rush hour? As a former wagon driver's mate whose runs frequently took us through the town, I know that sitting in the crawling traffic spilling out fumes affects both children and adults alike.

Is this not a greater environmental impact than the proposed stretch of road that will alleviate this major bottleneck?

Kevin Robinson, Annie Street, Cross Roads, Keighley.