Think again about traffic solution

As has been emphasised since the proposed redevelopment was first mooted, the generation of road traffic will be considerable.

In November 2001 North Yorkshire County Council Environmental Services published plans for traffic calming for the village.

The plans were only partially implemented. Much of the scheme was abandoned for no good reason. The excuse given by North Yorkshire's Traffic Management and Road Safety Group was that aspects of the work had been "....objected to by individuals, the Parish Council and a petition with 242 signatures."

In Embsay with Eastby there is a population of some 1,700. Of these some 1,400 are on the Electoral Roll.

The objections from the Parish Council was primarily in relation to signage.

Hence my contention that the road calming was abandoned for no good reason.

The petition was signed by a minority of residents and the parish council was clearly more concerned with aesthetics than road safety.

Local residents who live on East Lane and Skipton Road can look forward to a time of nuisance from traffic, aggravating what is already a serious problem.

Initially there will be the use by developers' vehicles and once the development is finished a great increase in domestic traffic use. Fifty eight dwellings will produce more than 58 cars.

Local residents should press for the November 2001 traffic calming to be reviewed and steps taken to slow down traffic speeds.

Your issue of June 10 (page 7) described North Yorkshire as the county among the worst for accidents. It is not difficult to see why.

John Fidler,

Skipton Road, Embsay.

SIR- I appreciate the residents only parking scheme is a large task but at least hopefully it will be somewhere near sorted by the end of the year.

I am a nurse at Airedale and work shifts, quite often nights. The last thing I want to do after a 12 hour night shift is trail around looking for somewhere to park which seems to be a daily occurence for Middletown residents because non-residents park outside our homes.

On bringing supermarket shopping home, residents have to park up or down the street and walk backwards and forwards several times with our shopping which can be a potential target for opportunists looking to pinch something.

People who go to the cinema on a night often park on the streets rather than using the car parks. I think the parking situation in Skipton would make a great film for them to watch - carry on parking perhaps!

Charlotte Usher,

Sackville Street, Skipton

SIR - Your editorial of June 10 (about the threat to the library in Grassington) is quite right.

County condemns the existing building because it has steps and lacks staff toilets. But when a room that meets those problems is offered in the Town Hall, county come up with a third demand: the library must be quite a lot bigger.

We have to assume they'll make an open-minded search for premises. But if they can't find anywhere to satisfy all three of their demands, they threaten to fob us off with the 'Supermobile' van which is a corridor between shelves.

They don't say for sure whether this would have evening sessions (we have two now). Nor, of course, can they tell us how often ice, snow, mist, money or engine trouble would stop it coming, as has happened.

This is a classic case of the best being made the enemy of the good. Of course a spacious library would be nice, with all mod cons, DVDs, music and computers (unless a deal for computers can be struck with our Learning Centre). But a less than perfect building would be better than the van, a library with a few flaws is better than no permanent library at all.

Richard Harland, Elma Harland, Marjorie Rhodes, Angela Soper, Charles Trevor, Liz Trevor,

Grassington.

SIR - I read with alarm (Craven Herald June 10) that Skipton police are now using a £10,600 mobile CCTV system alongside the town centre CCTV cameras (which incidentally cost £42,000 annually to run.

This negative approach to policing is a waste of time and resources. The police should be preventing criminal activity not simply sitting and recording it. Using mobile CCTV may be safe, cosy and easy but it will not work.

The ongoing saga of the boy racers on the Town Hall car park is a disgrace. Why don't the police make arrests or chain off the entrances at night?

I have just returned from Italy, Spain and Portugal and the police there are very high profile and active even in small towns and villages.

1 They patrol alone (why do our police/community support officers patrol in pairs when they have lots of high tech equipment such as radio,CS gas etc?)

2 They work on foot, on cycles,motor cycles and in small cheap cars or just stand and watch. Why do UK police drive round in pairs in expensive cars?

3 Spanish and Italian police take refreshment breaks in cafes and pubs etc and actually talk to people. Why do our officers need to return to the station canteen?

4 In many overseas communities the police station has a prominent position on the Main Street with flags etc. It is dominant and makes a statement: we are watching you! Why can't Skipton police have a bright orange caravan on the market setts, lease a small High Street shop, have a room in the town hall or on the bus station etc?

We are constantly told that we now have more officers than ever before but where are they?

The residents of Skipton pay a substantial payment via council tax for police services. Officers are well paid and do a complex job but they will only maintain public support by being proactive, energetic and well managed.

We do not need more CCTV cameras in Skipton, simply highly visible police and community support officers. Surprise, surprise it works?

Steve Jones

Keighley Road, Skipton.

SIR - I am writing about the appalling state of Skipton bus station.

We are supposed to be living in the 21st century. There is no cover at all, potholes, no kiosk and nowhere telling the bus times. For any tourist visiting Skipton, it is an eyesore.

Mrs J Hallam,

Neville Road, Gargrave.

SIR - I was intrigued to read in the Sunday papers that, under new legislation which came into force last week, local authorities now have powers to issue litter droppers with on the spot fines. The article I read gave examples of people being fined £50 for dropping a cigarette end.

Apparently it is now an offence to drop litter, including such small items as cigarette ends and chewing gum in open spaces. Those who refuse to pay will be taken to court and can be fined up to £2,500.

Let's hope Craven District Council uses its new powers to the full and cleans up Skipton, it should be self financing.

Another article in an earlier national paper reported that dog owners whose pets bark too much could be fined up to £5,000 and could be subject to anti-social behaviour orders. Council tenants could be evicted from their homes.

This bit of news was welcome to me as there is a dog owner in the neighbourhood who sometimes leaves the dog in the garden all day and it barks incessantly. This spoils what could be a relaxing weekend outside for us - and presumably any other residents. The dog probably isn't enjoying itself very much either.

Hopefully, now that our council tax is more than £150 per month, we can expect a vast improvement in the quality of our lives and Skipton will be a much cleaner and quieter place to live.

Thank you for letting me have my 'Victor Meldrew moment'.

Richard Colley

Park Avenue, Skipton.

SIR - Where have all the Brass Bands gone, long time passing.

My wife and I visited Skipton on Saturday, not knowing that it was Gala Day. As we entered the town from Keighley at about lpm, the streets were already lined with people waiting for the procession to start. We parked our car and set off up the High Street as we usually do.

We had almost reached the Black Horse at the top of the town, when my wife said that she could hear the band approaching. Well, I, being a bit deaf couldn't hear anything for quite some time, and then eventually made out the sound of rattling drums.

We joined the crowd of people at the kerb edge to watch the procession go by and in the lead was a pipe band looking very spectacular in their tartan uniforms - but can someone tell me what they were playing?. By the time they were a few yards past us, the sound just disappeared.

Oh for a brass band! You could hear a brass band for the whole length of the High Street and even if you didn't know the name of the march, at least you could tell they were playing a tune.

I played for Skipton Band in the 1960s when we played at the head of the gala procession for many years. We would meet at the band room at the back of the Fleece Inn at lpm and warm up in the Fleece yard playing BB and CF, a contest march which was just a bit too difficult for us to make a good job of, but we enjoyed the experience and it got us in the mood for what was a long march up Gargrave Road to Aireville Park.

By the time we reached the park, the bass players were steaming and ready for a rest.

We would start off on Sackville Street playing Slaidburn, but as we reached the High Street we would change to Colonel Bogey and play this all the way up High Street where it could be heard from top to bottom.

There is no nicer sound on a Gala Day than a brass band in the open air playing a march that everyone knows. Stirring stuff. Sadly, on Saturday, there was not one brass band in the whole procession and I must say, I felt sad and dismayed that Skipton can no longer put a band out on Gala Day.

Frank Morris

Skipton Road, Utley.

SIR - The unidentified brownie in the snapshot of Christ Church brownies in your Through the Years flashback of June 3 is my daughter, Diane Parker.

It was a nice surprise, especially as I did not know the photograph had been taken.

Diane has lived in France since 1980 but does come with her family for holidays. She is married to Philippe Goyot and has three children.

MH Kay,

Princes Drive, Skipton.

SIR - I am writing about the lady made homeless in Skipton (Craven Herald June 10).

The woman in question lived in Grassington all last summer and made her sleeping quarters at the top end of the village. She used to do her washing in the stream and hang it out to dry on the trees and was a very clean and tidy person.

Most people tried to do what they could for her to make her life a bit more comfortable but all felt it was heartbreaking to see her sleeping rough.

She has obvious tendencies to be a nuisance to neighbours and shopkeepers alike which results in her being made homeless. Nowhere in the article did it mention that perhaps she could have a mental illness which makes her react in this anti-social way towards people and if this is the case she should be looked after with compassion and not left to live on the streets.

She never wanted to be parted from her dog either as she told us that he is the only friend she has and she has had him since he was seven weeks old.

Too many special needs people are being pushed out into society these days instead of being protected and cared for in places where they can feel safe.

Perhaps this is the case with this lady, but at the end of the day it's a tragic state of affairs to happen to someone in this day and age.

Mrs A Potter,

Low Lane, Grassington.

SIR - following on the letter praising Airedale General Hospital, I would like to totally endorse the comments.

I am recovering from replacement hip surgery and would like to say a big thank you to all the staff of ward 10 theatre staff and for Chris Wray the surgeon. The ward and toilets were constantly cleaned and the food was very good and well served.

We are indeed very fortunate to have Airedale to look after us.

My only criticism is of the number of visitors allowed, seemingly unchecked. Surely this presents a constant risk of outside infection being brought onto the wards?

Val Peet,

Pasture Road, Embsay.

SIR - I see from your Letters Page that there are still problems with the blue bin system.

We down Keighley Road are still on the blue bag paper round scheme, which was operated by Yorwaste and working quite well. But since Craven District Council took over we don't know if we are coming or going.

The collection is supposed to be fortnightly and during the last 10 weeks I have made 10 phone calls to the recycling office, two to Coun Polly English, who has dealt with it as soon as she could and a letter to the chief executive.

Out of five times my blue bag should have been collected, it has been missed twice and collected the other three times only because I told the workmen the bags were round the back of the properties, where the wheelie bins are and where we were told to leave the blue bags right from the start.

Householders down Keighley Road don't know where to leave the bags or if they will be collected. I can quote several cases like this and people are getting fed up and say they won't bother if it can't be sorted out.

They say there have been teething problems but surely the baby is now old enough to know better.

It doesn't seem at present that the Keighley Road area is going into the full recycling scheme but surely some of the big containers could be placed against the railings. Bold Venture playground, which is town council land and quite accessible to a vehicle for servicing purposes, then we could recycle and help reach the targets set by the Government.

S Phillips

Keighley Road, Skipton.

SIR - After reading Bill Hearld's excellent article of week ending June 11 about the southerners view of the "Norf", I got to thinking about just "wot" puts Yorkshire folk (as the crme de la crme of the North) in to a class of their own.

Well one thing for certain is a very dry sense of humour, verging on the sarcastic and our odd terminology.

If your readers disagree, can I suggest that the next time they are talking to an American (and others) they fit the term "not bad" into the conversation, then spend the next few days trying to explain how we can make this simple phrase mean anything from, awful to fantastic by nothing more than a subtle change of emphasis, and as for northerners being a bit thick and southerners real cool, read on.

Last year in a pub in Kettlewell (which shall be nameless), two southerners were trying to read the menu and one of them said to the landlord in a slightly patronising voice, "this print is so small I can't even read it with my glasses on", to which he replied with a very straight face, "it's a pub sir not an optician's".

Instead of the quick repartee I was expecting from the gentlemen from darn-sarf, they just looked non-plussed.

Ray Potter,

Low Lane, Grassington

SIR - I read with interest in the Craven Herald of last week your heading 'Police unveil new weapon in fight against crime'.

Next to it was the photograph of Heather Demaine whacking husband Stephen over the head with a baguette at the French market. Perhaps the onions could be used as tear gas.

Stewart Lewis,

Esp Lane, Barnoldswick.