Letters to the Editor

SIR, - As a parent and resident of Yeadon, I was upset by the accident on Harrogate road by the Green Lane junction where a schoolgirl was badly injured.

Thankfully she is now home from hospital. However, when I read the letter in February 9 edition with regards to proposals being put forward in 2004 for a crossing at this location and finances being already available I feel angry.

Angry that yet again our council and councillors get away with this level of lack of care and concern for the community. The three councillors should pull their fingers out and get the crossing in question installed ASAP before there are any further accidents to their constituents, or do we really not matter to them?

While on the issue of road safety I wonder if any other people are aware of the stupidity shown by our council with regards to the placing of barriers at the entrance to Greenacre Community Hall's car park. It seems that someone at Greenacre Hall has taken objection to parents using it to safely drop off and pick-up their children from the New Littlemoor School.

Surely there could have been an agreement that parents could use this community facility for drop-off and collection times only. As someone who walks past this so-called community hall to drop off my own children at said school I have never yet seen it brimming with cars using the hall at these times of day.

Also, as I pay my community charge to the council for such facilities, and as the council are responsible for our education services, then why are we being prevented from using this car park? Yet again due to the congestion on the A65, (the secret motorway) it only makes more sense to allow this service to parents.

Or do we again have to wait until there is an accident involving one of our children on this road to get sense to prevail?

Yours, a very angry local community charge payer and parent.

L Cusack

Rufford Avenue,

Yeadon.

Crossing facts

SIR, - I am referring to a letter about the provision of a crossing on Harrogate Road, Yeadon (Crossing queries, February 9).

Mr King is a little adrift in his facts. The funds provided as a result of the airport expansion proved insufficient to complete all the works planned.

The Rawdon junction absorbed way in excess of the planned costings and nothing was left to fund a Green Lane/Harrogate Road junction improvement.

Following this I asked the Highways Design Department to look at putting in a crossing somewhere close to the junction. A count of people crossing Harrogate Road in both directions was taken and proved to be too few to warrant the installation of a crossing. Nonetheless ideas were put to ward councillors and a site meeting was eventually held with the three councillors and officers from both Design and Highways present, in the hope that we could come to some agreement what to install should it prove

viable.

The first suggestion was for a site just below the junction but we argued that to cross at that point would still leave people (many of them senior citizens) having to cross the even more dangerous Green Lane, and there was no option for a second crossing there.

It was decided that a site just uphill would be preferable as then it would give access to both the small general shop, a post box, the garage shop, and the bus stop for people going to Yeadon. It also put people safely on to Windmill Lane andso on the way to Yeadon.

Although the numbers of people crossing Harrogate Road were far below the numbers required to permit a crossing to be considered, under pressure from ward councillors this proposal was put into the design programme.

Until the Bayton Lane/Harrogate Road junction improvements were completed it was not possible to allocate funds for a crossing. Bayton Lane was completed in December last.

Finally I would make the point that, yes, the councillors who were involved in the concept do live in the vicinity, but for the last two years the site of the crossing has been in Otley and Yeadon Ward, so perhaps Mr King should really address his remarks to the councillors for that ward.

Coun Graham Latty

Guiseley and Rawdon Ward,

Chairman, NW Outer Area.

Kettle and pan

SIR, - Prescott's speech at the Labour Spring conference sneering at Conservative Leader Cameron for being Eton educated, takes the biscuit for hypocrisy and barefaced cheek.

Prescott is under the impression that because he was a ship's steward that makes him a socialist. The fact that he lives in a mansion, has a grace and favour apartment in Marble Arch and two Jaguars somehow excludes him from being a beneficiary of Establishment privileges. Prescott's criticism of Cameron is like the kettle calling the pan black.

Apparently it matters not at all that Blair was similarly educated at Fetter public school, the Eton of Scotland. The shallowness and superficiality of this attack shows how little New Labour has to offer.

Prescott should also remember that George Orwell, a great socialist who fought the Fascists in Spain, was Eton educated and it did no harm to his socialist principles. The same cannot be said of Blair.

Prescott's second theme concerned the Parliamentary votes on ID cards and education, asking MPs to unite. In other words, never mind the principles, if you value your job, vote with the Government and to hell with the people. Such arguments can best be described as the lowest of the low.

After the Labour defeat in Dunfermline, Prescott is scraping the bottom of the barrel and any system of democracy that allows such a man to gain the position of Deputy Prime Minister can only be described as a farce.

Malcolm Naylor,

21 Grange View,

Otley.

Safeguarded

SIR, - I am writing to reassure Anne Lee about concerns she raised in her letter to the editor on January 19 about Garnett's Mill land in Otley.

West Yorkshire Archaeological Survey (WYAS) visited the site in October of last year and have been consulted as part of the application process. WYAS have not objected to the scheme. However, they have recommended a planning condition which will ensure that a programme of archaeological and architectural recordings prior to demolition and development in line with Planning Policy Guidance 16 - Archaeology.

WYAS have also highlighted the existence of the corn mill on this site as part of the consultation process. Both Leeds City Council and Garnett's recognise the archaeological importance of this site.

Therefore archaeological and architectural recordings will be conditioned as part of the planning consent and no works (demolition or development) will take place until these recordings have been conducted.

RICHARD WHITEHORN

Sherwoods,

Property Consultants,

9 Buckingham Place,

London SW1E 6HX.

Bloom 'SOS'

SIR, - Can I through your newspaper send an SOS to the residents of Guiseley?

This year Guiseley in Bloom desperately needs your support. We are so short of members that we doubt if we will be able to get the work finished in time for the Spring judging by Yorkshire in Bloom, which will take place at the end of March.

Thetre is no need for any gardening knowledge - only willing hands ready to fill planters and tubs with plants to give colour and brightness to our streets. Just a small amount of time is needed (an odd hour through the week or over the weekend would be wonderful).

If you feel you could help, please telephone (01943) 879792 for further information, or leave a message so that we can get back to you. Any time you could give, however small, would make a great deal of difference to our endeavours.

One hour of your time would be very much welcomed - do say yes! We promise no hard work is involved.

SHIRLEY HUGHES-ROWLANDS

And Guiseley in Bloom members,

101 Park Road,

Guiseley.

All shipshape

SIR, - I refer to the visit of Her Majesty's ship,'The Pinafore', which has been in dry dock at Yeadon Town Hall this week.

The purpose of my letter is to allay the fears of any parents who might have paid a visit to the ship this week with a view to enlisting their offspring into the Senior Service, and who might have been alarmed to have discovered the decks being energetically swabbed by a large number of battle-scarred veterans well past the normal age of retirement. Please be assured that the Royal Navy does have an adequate pension service.

These ancient 9but able-bodied and full-throated mariners) continue to serve not of necessity but in an entirely voluntary capacity, and it is thanks to their splendid efforts that the good ship Pinafore - though now old and rather creaky - remains in such good seaworthy condition.

They should be (and were0 applauded for their efforts and we look forward to their next visit to our shores.

DAVID M RYDER

RN Pension Board Rtd,

2 Micklefield Lane,

Rawdon.

Help for carers

SIR, - A recent news campaign has highlighted a 'bleak outlook for carers' (ITN News) in which they describe declining health in carers and the question of where carers themselves can get the support they need.

This is not just an issue in deprived areas. In Airedale alone there are over 12,000 carers - unpaid people looking after a friend or family member with a disability or illness. The answer to ITN's 'Who Cares?' campaign, at least locally, is: We do.

The Carers' Resource is working with general practices across Airedale to improve support for carers. We have offices in Harrogate and near Skipton and we help many thousands of carers of all ages both practically and emotionally.

Working with other voluntary and statutory organisations within the community, we encourage carers to think of their own needs by providing information, one-to-one support, benefits advice, personalised training and employment guidance, social groups, and many volunteering opportunities to help make it a better outlook for carers and the person they care for.

If you are a carer and would like more information, or if you would like to volunteer, please contact The Carers' Resource on (01756) 700888

Anne Smyth

Director,

The Carers' Resource,

11 North Park Road,

Harrogate.