A 20mph speed limit for Skipton receives hostile reaction

How can a survey of only 500 residents of Skipton be a fair cross section about the use of cars in the town?

He does not mention the volume of traffic that enters Skipton by working people at business hours. Where does the figure of one in 25 cars come from? Has he taken a census of Coach Street car park and other areas or counted the cars entering the town between 8am and 9am?

On non-market days in winter there are only a few residents' shopping cars parked on the Coach Street extension (because of no tourist traffic) proving that we, the residents do not cause the congestion.

I would like to see him carry our weekly shopping from Morrisons to Overdale Park, without my "giant shopping basket" as he calls it. Does he want us to do our shopping in Keighley or Ilkley, would that please him? And what would the traders think?

Mr Doyle seems to be ignoring the needs of the residents of Skipton and their cars and catering only for the visitors to the town. It is time he considered park and ride for the tourist cars and what about bringing Skipton into the metro transport fare structure.

R J Gray,

Overdale Park, Skipton.

Impractical speed limit

SIR - I read with amazement the ludicrous proposals for a blanket 20 mph speed limit in Skipton. This is quite impractical for the following reasons:

a) The present limits are observed by only a small percentage of drivers and little seems to be done to enforce them. Following any reduction, only the same motorists will comply.

b) Modern vehicles are not designed to go long distances at low speed and will require the motorist to engage a lower gear, thus using more fuel and giving greater emissions.

Also, the statistics quoted are misleading as only 500 households - all in Skipton - participated in the survey. No account was taken of the fact that the majority of those who work in Skipton live outside the town and mostly drive to work every day.

It is all very well for Coun Doyle to comment on the use of cars for shopping. In the case of pensioners with physical problems, however minor, such as myself, the car is an essential.

No form of public transport will deliver me to my door and carry my shopping from trolley to home. Any attempt to prevent or curtail the use of private vehicles for this purpose will increase travel to out of town supermarkets which, I am sure, would not please local shop owners.

Also, it would seem sensible to crack down on the many parking infringements to be seen round Skipton every day in order to keep traffic flowing freely.

Finally, informed and considered discussion should be undertaken before any decisions are taken in order to avoid such mistakes as the recent painting of road markings in Broughton Road which, in practice, it is impossible to observe.

D Adams,

Pendle Street, Skipton.

Unpleasant for pupils

SIR - On behalf of the Parent Teacher Association at Settle CE Primary School, I would like to draw your readers' attention to the continuing problem of dog faeces in the areas immediately outside school.

It is here that parents wait to collect their children. Many have pre-school children with them and it is a fairly regular occurrence for a child to step into, or slip on, dog excrement.

Apart from the obvious unpleasantness, the health risks of contact with dog faeces are well documented and as the area outside school is where children are particularly vulnerable, we would ask that people think again before letting their dogs foul this (or any other area).

Mrs A Ambrose,

PTA Secretary,

Settle Primary School.

Wrong place

SIR - If the proposed toilets in High Bentham are put on School Hill, then they will be there for the next 50 years and so, what was once our indigenous open area, will be lost.

Way back in the last century this was our natural meeting place, where parades commenced, along with Bentham Brass Band, where the June hirings took place and some market stalls stood on our Wednesday market day. It was our only focal point.

Then, in the early 1950s, the parish council allowed lavatories to be built, and this was followed by an electricity sub-station and bus shelter.

No-one objected, as in those days people weren't as environmentally conscious and the council had little vision, let alone imagination.

So our open space was lost and now we have a chance to regain it again, yet the council, which has since become a town council, with the chairman's post elevated to mayor, still seem to lack vision and imagination.

The School Hill area should be opened up and landscaped in a well thought out, suitable manner with maybe even provision for a few market stalls which would bring back character on market day and provide a meeting place for mothers collecting their children from school.

Up to 60 people live within 100 yards of School Hill and 150 infant school children attend the primary school where the playground is four yards from the lavatories: on the way to the school they run within two yards of the male entrance.

The area is surrounded by Victorian and much older buildings, along with the old Victorian School (now the library) and School House, with its large sun dial and roof bell.

This is all part of our heritage and surely cannot be the right place to put new lavatories.

The location for them would be on a car park and the proposed siting is where the present bottle bank is. Mr Hayton, who trades nearby at Legion Trading, often gets visitors enquiring "where are the toilets"?

The siting of the bottle bank then becomes a problem but surely if we had to take away the two car parking spaces for this purpose this would be a small price to pay for our civic pride and dignity in the new development of our School Hill. We could then, in the next century, say "we did this for you, it was our finest hour".

I do commend and congratulate the planning committee of Craven District Council who, in their wisdom, gave us a stay of execution for further debate.

John Houghton,

Robin Lane, Bentham.

Happy experience

SIR- At the risk of extending the correspondence re Dr Bahra versus Crosshills Health Centre ad nauseum, I would like to state my experience at the latter. I have been a patient for 25 years. During that time I have given birth to four healthy children and experienced various medical complaints. The doctors have always been professional and kind, and the practice staff friendly and efficient. The building is attractive and comfortable and the wide range of services offered are excellent. I am obviously very pleased to be part of such good practice, I frequently recommend it to others and, what is more, never have a problem getting an appointment!

I am sure that Dr Bahra's patients will be welcomed and will soon feel as happy with their medical care as previously.

Gill Roberts,

Park Road, Cross Hills.

Inflation

SIR - The Yorkshire Co-operatives have finally entered the 20th century with the introduction of bar code scanning equipment at the Settle Food Fair. But who is going to pay for the new equipment? Judging by my experience on February 6, we the customers are going to pay for the new equipment.

An item I bought five weeks ago for the price of £1.99 cost me £2.29 on February 6, an increase of some 15 per cent. Another reason why we should have another supermarket in Settle?

Mr J Matthewman,

Station Road, Giggleswick.

Rules of the road

SIR - Perhaps you can advise me about the law of the highways.

Today we happened to walk around Settle centre, perusing the market stalls. We crossed Duke Street via the zebra crossing, having a toddler and baby in push chair, no problem.

On the way back the zebra crossing was blocked by a van, parked the full width of the crossing and across the zig-zag lines.

My husband asked the stallholder if he realised how dangerous it was. The driver acknowledged this fact and stated that although there was parking just round the corner, it meant having to cross the road.

Do sack trucks cost that much, I ask myself. Definitely not the price of a child's life.

My husband did ask at Settle police station if parking on the zebra crossing was illegal, if not dangerous. He was told by the person at the desk that it's very hard for market traders to park. I'll say, poor things!

Next time we can't park in Settle, perhaps we should find a zebra crossing, after all it seems the right thing to do.

Mrs T Stark,

Hawes Road, Ingleton.

Sensible suggestion

SIR - We refer to Mr Seth's letter last week regarding the proposed supermarket and the eminently sensible suggestion.

While we do not live in Settle, nor have children of school age, as parents and grandparents of asthma sufferers we are very aware of the effects of car fumes on children.

We are very concerned that the latest plans show both the school's and small children's playgrounds right next to the proposed car park. Surely the intense pollution caused by constant starting up of engines and manoeuvring would be detrimental to the children's health.

The line of trees drawn on the plan would not make any appreciable difference to air quality.

B&M Slann,

Leak House, Austwick.

Insulting

SIR - Mr Donald Seth in his letter (Craven Herald, February 13) suggests demolishing the swimming Pool at Settle and replacing it with a new one to be sited on the Bond Lane playing fields.

His suggestion that the cost of this could be recovered from the sale of the land on which the present primary school stands and any shortfall recovered from the supermarket savours of a lack of realism. I would very much like to see the costings of the project, which I presume he has made.

The proposed site for the primary school on Bond Lane would, in any case, reduce quite markedly the distance mothers and younger children have to walk between the primary and middle schools and reduce the pedestrian traffic congestion to which he refers.

The real traffic congestion arises from stone lorries coming down the valley, heavy lorries using Church Street and Kirkgate when they could, if Penny Bridge was strengthened, use Station Road and the bypass and the unnecessary bringing of cars and heavy vehicles into Settle would not be affected by Mr Seth's scheme.

It needs North Yorkshire County Council to put their hand in their pocket to do that and we all know how much sign there is of that happening.

When you bear in mind that the people of Settle must have given to the 'old' pool (now 23 years old) something of the order of, and possibly well above, £100,000 over the last 33 years, Mr Seth's suggestion might well be thought to be an insult to all Settle citizens.

Kevin Petrie,

Chairman,

Settle Swimming Pool Committee,

Tillman Close, Settle.

Pledge on homes

SIR - Now that the dust has begun to settle after the battle of the Unitary Development Plan in the Craven Ward, I thought that it was time to set the record straight in so far as the fight against the proposal to build 1,500 homes.

From the outset I opposed the UDP on every forum, platform and at every opportunity.

From the comments emanating from the likes of Coun Jack Womersley and Chris Leslie, the MP for Shipley, it appears that the UDP was produced on a political basis, the areas that return Labour councillors get more favourable treatment than areas which return Conservative councillors.

So let me apologise to all my constituents for failing to persuade Labour councillors against these monstrous proposals contained in the UDP. With a Labour controlled council, I was destined not to win the agenda. The voices of the people in Addingham, Eastburn and Silsden have fallen on deaf ears.

The results of the UDP may well be some years from fruition. But whatever the speed of the development, it is essential that we all maintain a watchful brief on every aspect of any future building.

I can assure you all, that despite this Labour controlled council, I shall fight to ensure that the interest of the residents of Craven are uppermost in my mind and efforts.

I have no other ambition to be anything more than your representative at City Hall.

Coun Eric Dawson,

Parkway, Steeton.

Messages of appreciation

SIR- May we through your columns express our thanks to Clare Hawkins, Gordon Whitaker and a third unknown gentleman who stopped to help our daughter when her car left the Skipton to Grassington road on Wednesday evening (February 4th).

It is heartening to know that there are selfless people prepared to stop and help a stranger when the need arises.

Kathryn and Max Benson,

Raines Close, Grassington.

SIR - As a fairly frequent visitor to Skipton and an occasional user of the town library, I would like to record my thanks to the staff there.

All the librarians that I have had contact with have been helpful and friendly and in particular the reference section came up trumps with the answer to a difficult query for me.

C Blackwood,

Reynolds Street, Burnley.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.