Renaissance projects are a farce

The vast sums of money being paid to the consultants are only the tip of the iceberg.

On studying the brochure produced by the START team in Settle, I didn't know whether to get angry or fall about laughing.

After several poorly attended meetings, the self-appointed, self-elected group of 15 members want to change the whole of Settle completely.

This group wants to close down the Sowarth Industrial Estate and replace it with houses, hundreds of jobs going to the wall at a stroke.

They also want to close Whitefriars car park and half of Ashfield car park. Apart from having nowhere to park and shoppers going elsewhere, the council tax will rocket because of the loss of revenue to Craven District Council.

They also want to close the market place to all traffic and pedestrianise it. How on earth cars will get from one end of the town to the other is confusing. All the other small roads are going to be gridlocked with traffic and parked cars.

If anyone is concerned about Settle's future, I suggest seeking a copy of the Settle Area Renaissance Vision brochure and seeing for themselves what a mess is being proposed.

At a recent invitation-only meeting, I asked the compere why the industrial estate had disappeared and hundreds of car parking spaces. I was told my views were controversial. I don't think trying to safeguard jobs and keeping shops open is controversial.

Public consultation on all this is so poor many hundreds of people are unaware anything is going on. It may seem strange to some START team members that a lot of people are quite happy with Settle as it is.

Settle may not be perfect, but it can do without these grandiose schemes and idiotic ideas, many of which came from the consultants themselves, who were trying to justify their fat fees.

Personally I would be happy for the whole project to be abandoned. If anyone shares my concerns then watch the local press for the next public meeting and express your views and opinions.

Coun Richard Welch,

Raines Road, Giggleswick.

SIR - I note your report about the meeting of Craven District Council's Performance and Resources Committee, which is said to have "blasted the vision" emerging from the Renaissance Market Town process.

It is very unfortunate that politicians are reported as saying that the reports for regeneration in Skipton and Settle are "not worth the paper they are written on". In doing so they denigrate the efforts and the huge number of hours put into these conceptual schemes by good citizens working on a voluntary basis.

Whereas we might all have hoped to be better served by highly paid consultants from London (and why did we not use local consultants so the money stayed in our own community?) nevertheless, many people in our communities have worked hard to develop ideas for our future.

To abuse them does not become our councillors.

What is being overlooked is that the details of projects are of secondary importance - projects will not in themselves change things for the better. What really matters is that citizens are encouraged to think for themselves and to take initiative in relation to the legacy we will all be leaving for generations yet to come.

Creating aspirational visions is vital work. John F Kennedy famously said: "Change is the law of life. Those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

Does Kennedy's comment apply to our councillors? They seem to be upset that people may think for themselves. Are they afraid that they will no longer be in control? It is easier to destroy than to build - sniping at attempts to excel is a recipe for continued mediocrity.

Just when the tender shoots of community initiative are seen to be pushing above the ground, they are being severely squashed by people who should know better.

This is the very antithesis of the democracy these councillors claim to be championing and which has placed them in positions of responsibility.

This kind of behaviour perpetuates the "us and them" syndrome and the resort of some people to adopting a victim mentality.

If the elected bodies had been able to do what is needed, we would not require regeneration.

Of course, in the nature of things, this is not the role of councils themselves but of entrepreneurial sectors of our community in partnership with the authorities.

For the most part, when partnership is mentioned in "councilspeak" the word is used to mean a kind of collusive relationship between people already in control. True partnership requires a letting go of supremacy and embracing alternative viewpoints.

As political game playing disenchants more and more of the population, we have to find the courage to invent new kinds of democratic frameworks for the 21st century.

Unfortunately this appears to be beyond the imaginations of some of our incumbent representatives.

The Renaissance Market Towns process is in its infancy. Yorkshire Forward, councillors, consultants, volunteers and the public at large have all made mistakes.

Skipton and Settle have been in the vanguard and we can be proud of pioneering this process, which attempts to encourage community involvement. Instead of damning it, let's make sure lessons are learned and we build collaborative relationships between all players in order to create a better future.

John Varney,

Malham Moor.

SIR - Paragraph 10 of the article "Villagers fear housing boom" in last week's paper contained several elements which I felt required clarification for both readers and the residents of Long Preston.

I would therefore like to ask Mary Russell - or any other person in authority who can offer the correct factual information - to answer those questions posed below:

1. What is meant by the village boundary? Is this the parish boundary or the building line boundary?

2. Where is the exception site quoted in the article?

3. In which month and year was the site in Q2 made an exception site?

4. Who requested that the site in Q2 should become an exception site?

5. Who had the authority to make the site in Q2 an exception site?

6. How does an area of land become an exception site, ie what are the criteria?

Heather Thomas-Smith,

School Lane, Long Preston.

SIR - I must comment on Mr Allsop's letter (Craven Herald July 16).

I will remind Mr Allsop and all new residents of Hartley Green that opposition was raised to those houses being built. Fortunately for them, and I think the rest of the village, common sense prevailed and the houses were built on what was an unsightly and untidy piece of land.

Mr Allsop and other residents must count themselves fortunate to be able to afford to move into Long Preston. I have lived in Long Preston for 44 years - my late husband and children all went to the village school.

Since my husband's death three years ago I have stayed, out of choice in the farmhouse we shared. As time moves on I will need something smaller and affordable.

For many young people and me, something to rent would be ideal. We need more young families to keep our school open and thriving. Let us not forget that if land belonging to the Hartley Trust were sold, the school and our children would benefit now, and for many years to come.

Is it a case of "we're all in our nice houses, let's pull up the drawbridge" ?

J Bradley,

Mearbeck, Long Preston.

SIR - I read with interest the letter headed "Big Cars" from Alan Perrow, Craven Herald, July 16.

I have followed his varying letters with much interest, and as a long-term council tax payer in Craven, I often wonder who appointed him to speak on my behalf, what the membership total of his group is and how it is broken down in terms of age, gender and ethnicity.

Craven residents will no doubt express their own views.

The purpose of my letter is to correct some misimpressions which may be given by Mr Perrow.

I do this in my capacity as the elected chairman designate (I take up the post on August 1) of the North Yorkshire Police Federation Joint Branch Board, a body elected by statute, which represents the vast majority of police officers in North Yorkshire.

The issue of vehicles is one which the Chief Constable, Superintendents' Association and Police Authority are best placed to respond to.

However when Mr Perrow states the salary figure for a superintendent was provided by the Police Federation he is repeating a misrepresentation of what I advised The Sunday Times and The Yorkshire Post as this is an average taking into account the number in the force and their varying levels of service. It is not a figure that we provided to CRAG.

Finally if people wish to comment on police pensions, please be factual.

The officers in North Yorkshire, like their counterparts in each police force throughout England and Wales are part of a statutory pension scheme. They all pay 11 per cent of their salary towards this pension.

Furthermore as the joining age for the police service has never been 18, I question how many officers retire at 48 with a 30-year pension.

Mark Botham

JBB Chairman Elect,

North Yorkshire Police

Federation,

The Police Station,

Knaresborough.

SIR - I noted the letter by KP Humphreys suggesting the apparent lack of a planning application for a commercial car park at Kettlewell, which has now been operating for quite a few years.

Presuming that the car park is the one just across the road from the garage, the lack of a planning application may also now present the question of whether any permission has been granted to fell all those large picturesque trees.

After all, it is not so long ago that I read about trees having to be planted in the Dales for environmental reasons. These are at a massive cost to the public.

Surely, those people responsible for the devastation should be made to replace the trees where they once stood.

M Tyson,

Rombalds Drive, Skipton.

SIR - I was shocked and saddened to read that Gargrave Parish Council has taken leave of its senses in deciding to build a "skate park" on Gargrave Village Green close to the stepping stones.

The report seemed so ridiculous I had to check that the date on the Herald was not April 1.

Gargrave has a number of things going for it, the Pennine Way, it is on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, it has a true village community with comprehensive sporting and social facilities and, not least, a village green that is the envy of many parish and town councils across the country.

Why on earth would the council want to ruin it?

Close to 1,800 people live in Gargrave, 290 of whom are under 15. This means that 1,500 are over 15. In fact 1,400 are over 25. All of this would tell any interested councillor that very few Gargrave residents would use a "skate park".

The village green, however, is used by many residents and visitors alike for walking, paddling in the river, picnicking, and just sitting enjoying the peace and quite

The permanent concrete and steel structure will need planning permission and I can only hope that the local planning authority takes a more reasoned view and refuses the planning application.

Experience should tell us that this sort of facility is soon vandalised and covered in graffiti and money is never available for its upkeep. The village playground is evidence of this.

The last attempt to build on the village green was the proposed Millennium Bridge to replace the stepping stones. The bridge rightly caused huge public objection.

I only hope that the village will stand again and preserve Gargrave's greatest asset, its village green!

Stuart Longbottom,

Gargrave

SIR - I read with interest the article about the formation of a new orchestra in Skipton.

In my opinion, any move to increase live music making - especially of the classical kind - can only be commended.

I do, however, resent the implication that there is a "gap for a quality orchestra". There is an orchestra based in Settle, which performs regularly and to a high standard in Skipton.

Mr Crick happens to be a member of this orchestra and furthermore he receives a fee.

Had the article stated that "there was a gap for a small chamber orchestra" I would agree.

In my view, you would have to go a long way to find a better musician with such an excellent understanding of orchestras and repertoires than Howard Rogerson who has conducted Settle Orchestra for longer than Ben Crick has been in long trousers.

Judith and Howard Topper,

Ingleton.

SIR - I have just had the pleasure of reading your edition of July 9.

What a joy it is to see the unchanged format of the front page and the mass of entertaining and informative local news.

One could quickly spot potential follow-up to The Calendar Girls in such stories as that of the triumph of the Broughton Road beauties over bungling bureaucracy.

Dining Out, "A new role for an old chippy", also caught my eye. Prior to becoming a "chippy", the building housed a public toilet!

As naughty little boys, my friends and I were small enough to crawl under the doors of the WCs in order to play tag, or tiggy as we called it, clambering over the walls.

Fact is indeed stranger than fiction. Some 50 years later I toured with the National Theatre's production of Dealers Choice, set in a restaurant converted from a public toilet!

When I next visit my old hometown I intend to complete the story with a meal in Escape, an apt name for our old temporary playground, although I will no longer be capable of creeping in under the door.

Michael Bell,

Potters Field, Ringmer.

SIR - Through your paper may we express our thanks to all the people who supported the recent Old Time Music Hall event at the Victoria Hall Settle on June 12.

The money raised has been donated to the Settle and District Blind Group.

A special thanks goes to Val Baulard and players for giving their time and expertise to our cause.

Mrs L Clemence,

Settle and District Blind Group,

Prospect Terrace, Settle.