Letters to the Editor

SIR - Your comment on the yellow line fiasco (T&A, May 27) is applauded. However, this is not a unique example of bureaucratic stupidity.

Six years ago a lay-by was built in front of a parade of shops in Northgate, Baildon and the double yellow lines previously on the main road were diverted into it, thus denying drivers wanting to use the shops a place to stop.

Enquiries to the Council brought the response that there were plenty of other parking places in Baildon and that the lay-by was to be used as a taxi rank and for deliveries. The spokesman was evidently unaware that there was a taxi rank at the opposite side of the road which had not been used for umpteen years and that the shops then being an estate agent, bookmakers and carpet retailer were unlikely to be inundated with deliveries.

Taxi markings were made on the road and a sign erected, but when after 12 months the rank had never been used, it was reluctantly admitted that the taxi drivers did not want it! It was subsequently proposed by the Council that the lay-by should be for disabled parking, but nothing has been done.

The matter has been raised several times at the Neighbourhood Forum and with a local councillor, but after six years the double yellow lines, though somewhat faded, are still there.

Any sensible businessman would have had the lines removed at the start and spit out the bureaucratic pips afterwards, but it is yet again apparent that with Bradford's officialdom salaries and common sense are in inverse proportion.

John Pashley, Westcliffe Avenue, Baildon.

An easier solution

SIR - Having recently retired after 40 years service with Bradford Council, I am aware that well-qualified local government officers are continually having to make judgements, and decisions "within the law" which can be challenged by members of the public and ultimately by the courts.

I believe that the spirit of the law is relevant in respect of the removal of the double yellow lines in Walker Avenue and it would seem reasonable, to operate within this spirit, for the Council to, say, display notices of intent in the vicinity, place a couple of notices in the T&A, and if there is no objection get rid of the lines.

Is it too late for the Council to consider this approach even though I recognise the most extreme but unlikely situation where they may need to justify the reasonableness of their actions to a court?

Joe Froggatt, Carrbottom Road, Bradford.

Massive waste

SIR - I was pleased to read that the silly Spice! project is to move from Bradford (T&A, May 25).

Perhaps this will give one less excuse to support the Alsop/ Marshall plan to demolish the Odeon?

I see that the East Lancashire Economic Partnership are to spend £25,000 on a feasibility study on this scheme. This means that the Spice! project must have had in excess of £100,000 wasted on it, to date.

At least now it's Lancashire money, not Bradford's, but it's still a massive waste of public money.

It would make much more sense to scrap the scheme and use the money saved for more worthy projects.

Dave Murgatroyd, Briarwood Drive, Wibsey.

Rail vision needed

SIR - Councillor King states that campaigners for Bradford Cross-rail do not consider the contingency that the scheme might be impossible to realise (T&A, May 20).

It is to be presumed Coun King accepts that cross-rail offers no insurmountable engineering difficulties, therefore he would be alluding to the current financial constraints within the rail industry which would prevent the scheme being accepted.

Bradford Rail Users' Group accepts the reality of this situation and also that the Government's rigid funding criteria would further compromise the adoption of cross-rail.

However the future financial situation could change favourably and the funding criteria be sufficiently relaxed to allow the adoption of schemes like cross-rail, as alternative measures would be needed to reduce road congestion and pollution.

Coun King is correct to cite the difficulties experienced with Leeds Supertram as an example of how even well advanced schemes have not been implemented.

However this must not excuse a lack of vision by Bradford Council and bodies like Metro which have failed to promote ambitious rail schemes comparable to those supported by Otley and North Yorkshire Councils.

Alec Suchi, Secretary, Bradford Rail User's Group, Allerton Road, Bradford.

Political education

SIR - With the dust barely settled on the election, already in these columns the Blair-bashers and Labour-lambasters are in full cry, their frustration and anguish at the result being almost palpable.

Typical of the genre is a letter from R Brown (T&A, May 24). "It is a great pity," he laments, "that this weak, pathetic party ever got back."

I would have thought that any of the other contenders would have cheerfully sold their souls for a slice of 'pathetic weakness' which delivered three victories on the trot!

He continues: "We could have got a party that would have put the 'great' back into Great Britain."

But Mr Brown compounds this utterance by not divulging which party he means!

So how are we, the great untutored, to know who to vote for next time around if Mr Brown doesn't tell us?

Peter Wilson, Thornhill Grove, Calverley.

The wait goes on

SIR - Re N Brown's letter (T&A, May 23), Bradford does not begin and end at Shipley, it extends to the borders of Kirklees.

Cleckheaton and Low Moor could be a large commuter catchment area and should be opened up to the rail network with park and ride facilities.

It would ease traffic congestion to the south of Bradford and also across Bradford to the north.

It would also give Bradford retailers a boost through the new shopping areas.

Railways move large numbers of commuters from one side of Bradford to the other in minutes, not hours. We are still waiting for the opening of Low Moor.

A G Hirst, Chattswood Fold, Oakenshaw.

Save landmark

SIR - "Odeon will be a grand edifice" was the headline (T&A, May 20).

Alas, my initial delighted astonishment soon turned to despair: "Uses suggested... for the site include cultural, leisure, hotels, homes and offices."

It was only to be expected that there would be no mention of possible refurbishment of the existing building, because that option was never presented to the would-be developers.

As to Bradford residents having "the chance to put their views", how many more times do we have to spell it out before Ms Marshall gets the message?

A 4,000-signature petition, and now more than 200 letters printed in the T&A, all but a handful in favour of keeping the "visually stunning", "quality landmark" we've already got.

Save the Odeon - again, and again and again!

Kenneth A Webster, Abb Scott Lane, Bradford.

Worth celebrating

SIR - At a time when TV and print media seems to be constantly pushing the odd jab of botox as a panacea for all of life's problems, how refreshing to see your photograph of Elsie Hill and Lil Baker (T&A, May 26) typifying natural beauty which has matured over time.

With their respective 100 years of real living clearly etched on their laughing faces, your photograph really shows that character and good companionship count in the long run, and not cosmetic surgery.

Hoping both ladies really enjoy their celebrations.

Mrs Beverley Thornton, Gordon Terrace, Idle.