Letters to the Editor

May I mention one specific example. Our dog, Muttley, who was pictured on the front page of the Keighley News last week, was well cared for by arrangements made by the Bradford Dog Warden service and returned to our front door when we could return to the house.

I know that I have occasionally berated the local authority in the past, but this time they did extremely well to respond to the emergency presented to them.

As I write this it scarcely seems credible that six days ago I was being picked up by a fireman and placed in a boat to be rescued.

Last Tuesday I think I was given the opportunity to glimpse what it must be like for those all around the world who are displaced by events beyond their control, and for whom the sense of trauma is not going to last a few days or weeks but for an indefinite period. It is an experience I shall not forget.

Our heartfelt thanks to all who responded so well and so willingly.

R TICKNER,

Florist Street, Keighley.

SIR - I read with great interest the articles which were printed in the first few pages of November 3 KN, regarding the River Aire bursting its banks and the subsequent floods.

My interest was further aroused as I turned to page 2 when I read the article entitled 'Police Deny Disabled Man left Stranded'.

My family and I were amongst the many unfortunate people who found their homes under water on that particular day, and I was also one of the many who formed part of the rescue services who helped to evacuate the area.

Firstly, I would like to praise and acknowledge the work of the Police, Fire and Ambulance services, who acted with great compassion and professionalism.

I feel nothing but pity for the plight of this poor gentleman and his carer, but I can see no reason to lash out at the members of the emergency services over this incident.

What is it that people like these want?

We were all stranded, feeling extremely anxious and frightened, but I feel very angry that these people are able to launch a verbal attack on the poor emergency services, trying to in some way blame them.

They were faced with the task of having to evacuate approximately 300 people, amongst them were many elderly disabled and vulnerable persons - they were by no means a 'special case' nor an 'exception'.

In fact there was indeed one of the two who is 'able bodied', which is likely to have been an advantage over many of the elderly and infirm residents of the area.

I have enclosed a photograph of the two men in a rescue boat, taken by myself, and I do know that they were both well cared for during the ordeal.

Mr Cheung was wrapped in warm blankets and evacuated in his own wheelchair as soon as it was practically possible, bearing in mind the speed at which the floods came.

They were taken by boat and put into a specially converted bus which then transported them to a safe area.

On that horrific morning the emergency services were no doubt inundated with calls for help and acted as quickly as possible with strategic plans put into place to help as many people as possible in the shortest period of time.

Finally, to summarise, I feel that the article printed was unfair and very selfish on the part of whoever wrote the letter.

I would once again like to pass on praise and thanks to all members of the emergency services who unfortunately too often are criticised by members of the public who have the attitude "I've got a problem, you sort it out".

Where is their sense of looking after themselves? Sadly, old-fashioned values have long since been forgotten.

NAME AND ADDRESS

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Editor's note:- We have been unable to get a reply to this letter.

The photographs do illustrate the point being made and show Mr Cheung in his wheelchair in the boat.

SIR - I write to counter the offensive and ill-informed anonymous comments in last week's letters regarding the cows killed on the Aire Valley road.

The animals in question were on land that had not flooded in the last 40 years, and in any case there is a finite amount of land onto which stock can be moved.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and it wasn't only farmers that were affected. The severity of the weather even overwhelmed the multi-million pound high-tech flood defences at York. To return to the animals that died, has your correspondent considered the actual cause of death? What velocity and how many vehicles are required to kill four cows?

It would be wise to gain the facts before anonymously commenting from the warmth of an armchair.

ROBERT WHITEOAK,

St Stephens Court, Steeton.

SIR - The decision to approve the development of Birch Tree Gardens site has generated a great deal of correspondence in the Keighley News over the last couple of weeks.

Your correspondents have raised various points. Some have raised genuine concerns and have shown a high level of reasoned argument, whilst others have not.

Councillor Leathley wrote in his letter that the decision would have been different if the Labour Party had control of the panel.

I am amazed that he is not aware that the planning process has been depoliticised and is no longer subject to the Party Whip. The Labour Party introduced this policy some twelve months ago.

Perhaps Councillor Leathley did not know his party had made the change because he was on one of his holidays! Whilst I have every sympathy with any member who has to miss a meeting through illness, I do feel that being on holiday is a pathetic excuse.

The Area Planning Panel's meetings are scheduled many months in advance and only take one day a month. This leaves 30 other days to go on holiday. Pontius Pilate used a small bowl to wash his hands of a difficult decision.

I would not have the breathtaking arrogance to find a distant swimming pool in which to imitate his action. Other correspondents seem concerned that members of the panel did not ask enough questions.

The panel was given detailed information by officers, by the developer and by objectors to the scheme.

In addition, panel members had already received a detailed report in advance of the meeting, had access to the agenda file, to background papers and to briefings.

I did not stifle debate and did not move the item to a vote until members indicated that they had received all the information they needed. When the vote was taken, those members who had the courage to vote made individual decisions and did not vote on party lines.

My own decision was based on consideration of all the evidence presented from the sources I have listed, and was not made for any political reason.

Mrs Cryer has made some relevant and timely comments about the whole planning process and its shortcomings. I welcome many of her ideas, but until they come to fruition we have no option but to work with the present system and within the law.

There is now a better scheme than the original but still extant 1993 plans. The council will monitor the development of the site very closely to ensure that the amended scheme and all the conditions attached to it are followed.

CHRISTOPHER I GREAVES,

Chairman, Keighley Area

Planning Panel.

SIR - In Councillor Leathley's claim of a 'scrambled attempt to score petty political points' by Councillors Miller and Mallinson, may I say in nearly forty years I have never come across such a poor attempt at petty political whinging.

Like some of their Labour counterparts, the Conservative members representing local people attended local meetings and took on board the views of locals. Unlike their Labour counterparts, they attended the planning committee, either as members of the committee or as councillors putting the presentations of local people to the proper forum.

Councillor Mallinson did the proper thing in supporting constituents by presenting the case of Birch Tree Gardens to the planning committee, something he had to do alone, as the Labour Councillors' from Keighley North were as conspicuous in their absence as the Labour Councillors who were supposed to be on the planning committee.

What is breathtaking in Councillor Leathley's illogicality (and does that word actually exist outside of the said Councillor's personal vocabulary?) is his rather poor attempt to explain the failure of Labour members to fulfil their public commitments by blaming the casting vote of the chairman Councillor Greaves and the ward he represents.

For the record, Councillor Greaves is a seventeen-year resident of the Keighley area and understands the difficulties as well as any other local person, elected or otherwise.

Conservative Councillors did not, however, come out with a series of excuses that avoided the central issue: that was not necessarily about a planning dispute, but a simple issue of understanding that once elected there remains a duty to serve the very people that were fobbed off with holidays, sprained ankles, and other undefined illnesses in an age where politicians are used to attending important votes from wheelchairs and hospital beds.

Oh! And by the way, where exactly were the alternate Labour members of the Planning Committee?

DAVID McKAY,

Back River Street, Haworth.

SIR - I was pleased to read in your letters page that Cllr Leathley is to look into the reason why Labour Cllr Prestage did not vote at the planning meeting, for or against Birch Tree Gardens.

This is the second time he has reported an enquiry into this matter. Maybe over the 40 years that Cllr Leathley has been involved in politics he has forgotten how to use the phone.

It is that modern piece of furniture in the corner of the room. One five-minute phone call to Bradford Council's lawyers and I had the information. The simple fact is that the said Labour councillor could have voted, despite not going on the site visit. Perhaps Cllr Prestage would like his turn to explain his 'illogicality'.

Never mind 'crying over spilt milk', I think it is more like sour grapes over the fact that the Labour stronghold on Keighley has now been broken, and having a hung council is something that you cannot deal with.

All ward councillors should be pulling in the same direction when it comes to public safety and a fair deal. Community decisions and requirements are just that - for the community.

This makes me wonder why Cllr Leathley has recently declared that he knew nothing of the sale of Long Lee School until a week ago! Was he not listening to the community 14 months ago when they handed in a petition for the use of this school for the local people?

If Cllr Leathley would like to look into geographical areas, then might I suggest he looks at the SRB boundary that cuts the town of Keighley in half like a knife.

Whilst I welcome the investment that it puts into our town, it also divides the people who live there. If Long Lee was within the boundary it too may have had the necessary funding, like Highfield, to buy the school for the use of the people that live there. Planning issues, boundaries, warts and all, need dragging into the 21st century, so long as you have the conviction to do it.

CLLR ANDREW

MALLINSON,

Aireburn Avenue, Steeton.

SIR - Amid the myriad questions which the passing of the Birch Tree Gardens development throws up is "What is the role of the Planning Office"?

Is not part of that role to see the interests, safety and concerns of neighbouring residents addressed?

Much has been made of the "weakness" of Planning Law. Indeed, this has been used as an excuse and a fob by Keighley planners for almost two years now.

Whilst there is an appreciation that the laws may well be weak, there is also an awareness that they do, in fact, exist.

The laws are there. Why then have Keighley Planning Office allowed those laws to be broken for the last two years? When challenged, rather than admit it, the Planning Office continue to fudge and deceive.

In addition, last year, Planning Officers themselves outlined a number of areas where the developer Skipton Properties had breached planning permission.

An injunction was supposed to have been served. Nothing happened and again when challenged, the history of the promised injunction was re written

Jeff Morgan

Cherry Tree Rise, Long Lee.

SIR - I read with incredulity the letters from councillors regarding Birch Tree Gardens, Long Lee.

It amazes me that councillors are wasting their time in political infighting when the real problem is the stability of the site and the threat to the homes and gardens of residents living around this site.

NAME AND ADDRESS

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