The Telegraph & Argus: News from across the Bradford district

A sad end for pet

10:09am Tuesday 21st May 2013

SIR – On the morning of Wednesday, May 8, while walking my friend’s dog on Whetley Lane, I found a white, female cat at the side of the road.

Unrealistic ambition

10:07am Tuesday 21st May 2013

SIR – After a long absence, the Labour party has at last made a policy statement to the effect that they would like to achieve ‘full employment’, an ambition which I am sure is shared by every other party, large or small, but is in fact totally unrealistic and almost certainly unattainable with continued unlimited inward migration from the EU distorting the labour market here.

Who pays for events?

10:06am Tuesday 21st May 2013

SIR – Can anyone tell me what it cost to police the recent parade in honour of the prophet Mohammed’s birthday and the Sikh procession a few weeks before? And who paid?

Investigations, please

10:05am Tuesday 21st May 2013

SIR – In the article “Vital role played by local press” (T&A, May 15) editor Perry Austin-Clarke stated that “we do believe our readers know and appreciate the work of the T&A, and recognise our support of the Bradford district.”

Tennis club worries

10:06am Tuesday 21st May 2013

SIR – I write, as a member of Ilkley Tennis Club, to express my deep concerns about the club’s latest multi-million-pound expansion scheme currently being put before council planners.

Preserve pub for all to see in museum

10:04am Tuesday 21st May 2013

SIR – It was with great interest I read the article and pictures about the refurbished back-to-back houses at the Industrial Museum. It is with great anticipation I look forward to seeing them.

Crossing is needed

10:04am Tuesday 21st May 2013

SIR – Re Mr Watson’s letter (Money poorly spent? T&A Letters, May 17), to criticise new pedestrian lights on Valley Road due to Green Lane/Otley Road Baildon junction not as yet having traffic lights shows a typical dog in the manger attitude on his part. “If we can’t have a safer junction why should Valley Road have lights?”

Praise for the T&A’s vital role

9:15am Monday 20th May 2013

SIR – We wanted to write to you, in Local Newspaper Week, and put on record our support for the vital work that the Telegraph & Argus does in the Bradford area.

A pleasure to serve

9:54am Monday 20th May 2013

SIR – As I near the end of my second consecutive term as chairman of Ilkley Parish Council, I wish to take this opportunity to thank all the groups and organisations in the town for their kind invitations to attend functions or other gatherings over the past two years.

A refreshing change

9:52am Monday 20th May 2013

SIR – Calling the other day for fuel at the Pool filling station, how refreshing it was to be politely asked by an attendant on the forecourt how much I required and asked to go into the kiosk and pay while he topped it up, a very civilised operation. I could not recollect when this happened to me last – probably in the Sixties.

Selfish Nimbyism

9:50am Monday 20th May 2013

SIR – The UKIP candidate has just hit the nail on the head with the final paragraph of his letter (T&A, May 17).

A fine heritage idea

9:51am Monday 20th May 2013

SIR – I think it would be a lovely idea to open up Keighley’s hidden street with shop units – ‘New plan to open up hidden street’ (T&A, May 9).

Comments on target

9:50am Monday 20th May 2013

SIR – Jason Smith’s claim that UKIP supports tax cuts for all (Letters, May 16) means that hard-working people get crumbs while the idle rich get the cream. UKIP’s policy also means that there would be less money available to spend on vital services such as education and the NHS.

Tackling fare dodgers

9:49am Monday 20th May 2013

SIR – An interesting story regarding fare dodging on the Airedale rail line – ‘Saltaire is a hotspot for rail fare dodgers’ (T&A, May 3).

Domino set to fall

9:19am Monday 20th May 2013

SIR – I note John Hall’s letter in response to my view that in many respects I consider UKIP’s views to be the right ones. He did not mention the opposition to the high-speed rail venture which UKIP are against, and that only days after my letter a Parliamentary committee spotted a £3.5 billion gap in funding, not to mention a very poor business case.

Change is needed

9:20am Monday 20th May 2013

SIR – If this is ‘Big Society’ then we need change. I feel quite angry that, in this day and age, our citizens are having to depend on foodbanks in order to eke a living.

UKIP and election

9:16am Monday 20th May 2013

SIR – I would just like the opportunity to clarify the situation with regard to UKIP candidates standing at the next General Election. Contrary to various articles, there are no current plans for UKIP to stand aside for Tory candidates at the next election, irrespective of whether that MP is euro-sceptic or not.

We are poles apart

9:18am Monday 20th May 2013

SIR – So David Cameron has promised a referendum on Europe if re-elected. I recall Tony Blair promising the same, but reneged once elected.

Money poorly spent?

9:12am Friday 17th May 2013

Sir – Shauna Bramham (Letters, May 14) rightly points out how dangerous the Green Lane/Otley Road junction in Baildon is, and adds to the numerous requests for traffic lights to be installed.

Council tax puzzle

9:13am Friday 17th May 2013

SIR – Councillor David Green backs the proposed combined authority to drive through major transport and regeneration projects (T&A, May 14).

A dementia alert

9:12am Friday 17th May 2013

SIR – There are currently more than 800,000 people with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, in the UK.

Opportunity knocks

8:55am Friday 17th May 2013

SIR – You rightly report on the impenetrable nonsense that is the ‘road map’ document for Bradford’s ‘Joint Strategic Needs Assessment’.

Charity gift plea

8:54am Friday 17th May 2013

Sir – I feel it necessary to draw readers’ attention to a worrying activity regarding the random dropping of charity bags through letter boxes.

Windpower problems

8:54am Friday 17th May 2013

Sir – Mr John Hall suggests windmills are very effective and reliable (Letters, May 15).

Making bus users aware of the rules

8:53am Friday 17th May 2013

SIR – I’m pleased to see the Telegraph & Argus highlighting behavioural problems on our public transport and the way police officers are dealing with it (T&A, May 14).

Remembering raid

9:09am Thursday 16th May 2013

SIR - Today, we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the celebrated Dambusters raid, one of the most daring operations carried out by the RAF during the Second World War.

Fossil fuel hostility

9:07am Thursday 16th May 2013

SIR – Just a point of information which your readers might not know. The EU and its UK vassal state are politically hostile to fossil fuels.

The grass is greener

9:08am Thursday 16th May 2013

SIR – It is not often that one reads such a one-sided negative article (Helen Mead, “Gardening is no bed of roses”, May 13), though it was the author’s point of view, on a subject.

Missing the point

9:06am Thursday 16th May 2013

SIR – John Appleyard is very far off the mark when he claims ‘Parties so similar’ (Letters, May 13) in regard to UKIP and the Tory party.

Energy bill shocker

9:07am Thursday 16th May 2013

SIR – I am in a bit of shock right now due to receiving a letter from my electricity and gas supplier, First Utility.

How much was refurb?

9:06am Thursday 16th May 2013

SIR – As someone who passes the old Crown House tax offices in Shipley, which has been empty for a good while, I was pleased to see lots of work being done on the building in recent months and was curious to see who the new occupants would be.

Bridge is a vital way to cross busy road

9:05am Thursday 16th May 2013

SIR – The new bridge on Manchester Road, Bradford, was purposely built without steps to enable anyone to safely cross over a very busy road at leisure, especially the elderly, the disabled, people with prams or in a wheelchair and even cyclists.

Thanks to runners

8:59am Wednesday 15th May 2013

SIR – I would like to thank and congratulate our 126 runners from across the UK, who ran for The Children’s Trust in this year’s Virgin London Marathon in April and will look to raise £290,000 for the Trust.

Where are solutions?

8:57am Wednesday 15th May 2013

SIR – For Jason Smith’s benefit (“No green solution”, Letters May 10), I never stated that extreme weather is linked to increased atmospheric CO2. Some, possibly.

What would Tom think?

8:56am Wednesday 15th May 2013

SIR – The 1983 film The Dresser had scenes filmed in the Cock & Bottle. The picture starred Tom Courtenay, Albert Finney and Edward Fox.

Call for consitancy

8:55am Wednesday 15th May 2013

SIR – I share Brian Holmans’s negative view of companies like Starbucks using creative accounting to limit any UK taxes they pay (Letters, May 1), but the real fault lies with successive governments, of all parties, in developing a tax system of such monumental complexity that loopholes are inevitable. And legal loopholes will always be exploited by the unprincipled, not just the rich.

History repeating?

8:54am Wednesday 15th May 2013

SIR – The suggestion of Central Government that Bradford MDC should join Leeds, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield in forming a super-council (T&A, May 11) to administer some services at a regional level, has had me pondering over a new name for the proposed conglomerate.

Child care is not a game of numbers

8:48am Wednesday 15th May 2013

SIR – The ‘tick-box’ obsession of our bureaucratic rulers knows no bounds now! Less of a joke, it is fast becoming a threat to our humanity.

Traffic crime solution?

8:44am Tuesday 14th May 2013

SIR – I do not currently drive, but travel on the roads of Bradford. The quality is getting worse, due to the bad winter we have had. The potholes are bigger, deeper and there are more of them. I appreciate it is a very expensive process, and I have come up with an idea that could generate more income.

We offer vital support

8:45am Tuesday 14th May 2013

SIR – Many of your readers will have seen the new adverts for SSAFA. Since the launch of our new name, many people have asked me what SSAFA is and what it does.

MP speaks for us all

8:44am Tuesday 14th May 2013

SIR – I read with interest your recent article on my Shipley MP Philip Davies, who appears to have gained something of a reputation for voting against the Tory party in the House of Commons.

Junction is dangerous

8:43am Tuesday 14th May 2013

SIR – When is something going to be done about the ‘deadly’ junction at Green Lane/Otley Road?

Life is so precious

8:36am Tuesday 14th May 2013

SIR – Our hearts go out to the families of the Valley Parade disaster from here in New York.

Climate debate fears?

8:37am Tuesday 14th May 2013

SIR – Ron Harding wades in (T&A April 30) on the big ‘global warming’, ‘climate change’– or whatever it’s called this week – discussion, suggesting that myself and colleagues always come to the conclusion that ‘experts’ are wrong.

Putting feet up is just a lack of respect

8:36am Tuesday 14th May 2013

SIR – Regarding your item about the assault of a train conductor who had requested a passenger to remove his feet from a seat (T&A, May 10), I would like to point that is a continual problem on the services in this area owing to the seating formation and lack of respect by some passengers.

Lose-lose situation

8:33am Monday 13th May 2013

SIR – Ashley Forsyth (T&A, May 7) rightly highlights the Tories’ devastating plot to concrete over our district’s countryside, mentioning that David Cameron made a comment about our ‘lovely countryside’.

Parties so similar

8:33am Monday 13th May 2013

SIR – Philip Coote needs to take a reality check if he seriously believes that UKIP is an alternative to a Tory government (T&A, May 8).

Go stripy for sailors

8:34am Monday 13th May 2013

 SIR – Friday, May 17, is Nautical Friday – Seafarers UK’s annual fundraising day – when people are being asked to ‘wear something stripy’ to show their support and give money to support seafarers in need.

Bigger tax concerns

8:32am Monday 13th May 2013

SIR – The Government has any number of so-called tax incentives to support what it regards as worthwhile ideas. Thus the interest on Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) (Graham Hoyle, Letters, May 1) is untaxed to persuade people to save a bit more.

Response inadequate

8:32am Monday 13th May 2013

SIR – What a pathetic response by Councillor Jeanette Sunderland to the crisis in social care funding highlighted by Age Concern in Bradford (T&A, May 7).

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