Letters to the Editor

SIR - Regarding tenants being evicted against their wishes in Fallowfield Gardens. There appears to be unlimited money available to regenerate areas like Leeds Road, Barkerend and Manningham, where many of the houses were structurally unsound 50 years ago and should have been demolished then, yet nobody in those areas has been threatened with eviction and houses are regenerated with sitting tenants.

On many estates throughout the country structurally-sound houses needing small amounts spending on them are being demolished against the wishes of the tenants who are uprooted and moved away from family and friends.

Who does the Council and Government think they are fooling? It has nothing to do with regeneration. It's about profit. Large amounts of money are being made from property developers for "prime sites of land" under the guise of regeneration. How will it benefit these tenants to be moved miles away from family and friends into another slum?

We at Ravenscliffe are not moving either.

Peter Wood, Ranelagh Avenue, Ravenscliffe.

Hidden agenda

SIR - Regen 2000 is represented by voluntary board members, some of whom have been elected by the residents of the Regen 2000 area. The notions of community involvement, engagement and empowerment are used extensively in Bradford Council's public documentation which is shown to encourage this. However, in removing the board of Regen 2000, Bradford Council is not engaging or empowering the community but isolating it.

What is clear is that Bradford Council has a hidden agenda in making such moves. I also ask why is the board being removed? Should it not be Bradford Council being removed for failing?

J Pashley, Barmby Road, Bradford.

Failing to deliver

SIR - The motives of Bradford Council in removing the Regen 2000 board have become more apparent. Bradford Council has spent the millions allocated to its project "connecting the city" without any benefit coming to the community of Regen 2000.

I understand the SRB money was allocated for the benefit of the people of Regen 2000. If no benefit has arrived to the local people then Bradford Council should accept that they have failed in delivering this and do the honourable thing by returning the money.

Bradford Council should also refrain from hiding the truth and attempting to ruin the reputations of the board members.

Anthony Calvert, Harewood Street, Bradford.

Same old mess

SIR - As a regular traveller up and down Killinghall Road, I watched all the houses being sandblasted and lovely new railings being put up, and I wondered how long this would last.

Now I see old settees and other rubbish stuck in front gardens.

Maybe Regen 2000 should have put in a contract that residents had to keep Britain tidy before they got everything thrown at them for free.

My husband and I have worked hard over 50 years each, and we are now old-age pensioners, but we still have to maintain our own small house.

Mrs Dorothy Pickles, Tong Street, Bradford.

Council Scrooges

SIR - During school holiday time why does it cost me £8 to take my child swimming at the Richard Dunn Centre when it only costs me £4.45 at other times? Surely swimming with mums should not be penalised by the Council just because it is the summer holidays. It's Scrooge-like. You need to encourage parent-friendly swimming, not discourage it.

Is it also right that my half-price pass is only valid in this area (West Yorkshire) and not at Skipton Baths?

S Walker, Little Horton Lane, Bradford.

l A Bradford Council spokesman said: "Currently there is a swim-and-slide package for under-16s for £2.25 at the Richard Dunn Centre as part of our summer offers. Before the offer started it would be £8 for one adult and one child at peak times - although £5.40 with a passport to leisure. We pride ourselves on offering value for money at all times at our swimming pools across the district, particularly during school holidays when we regularly offer discounted swims for under-16s for 50 pence. Bradford Council's Passport to Leisure scheme offers reductions at our pools and leisure centres to everyone who lives in the district. Nearby, Calderdale is the only other Council accepting the Bradford Passport to Leisure and we have a reciprocal arrangement with them. Skipton Pool is run by Craven District Council."

Simple answer

SIR - Joan Foulds writes (Letters, August 23) "it is a mystery to me how Tony Blair is still Prime Minister".

Well, I am no Hercule Poirot, as my little grey cells tend to be minuscule. But could the "mystery" of Tony's continuing Premiership have something to do with Labour winning the election?

Peter Wilson, Thornhill Grove, Calverley.

Help them stay

SIR - Mr and Mrs Noel had well-paid jobs, a home and strong family ties in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However, they and their children faced intolerable pressure because of their position as high-profile Christians and in June 2002 had to flee the country, fearing for their lives.

Mr Noel's initial application for asylum in the UK was refused. The judge hearing his appeal recognised the strength of his case and found in his favour.

Just days before this decision was to become final, however, the Home Office made a further appeal. Mr Noel was denied asylum.

Following further attacks on their family back in Pakistan, Mrs Noel began a long battle for asylum in her own right. It too has been refused.

The judges in both appeal cases found Mr and Mrs Noel to be "credible witnesses" (ie they believed the Noels' statements concerning their suffering in Pakistan) and accepted they may well face further persecution should they be forcibly returned.

However, despite having established themselves as pillars of society in Doncaster where they live productive and fruitful lives (without any state benefit), they have still been refused asylum in the UK.

We request the support of your readers in signing their petition to remain in the UK (http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Noels/petition.html).

Neville Martin, Secretary, Rotherham Area Group, Christian Peoples Alliance.

No deterrent

SIR - Readers of the T&A Court File will have noticed the same names cropping up time after time, month after month, and year on year. They commit offences regularly and frequently, undeterred by the sanctions of the court. Nowadays most of them are subject to ASBOs, but this does not stop them.

I was under the impression that breaching an ASBO could provide up to five years in prison. Is this ever going to be implemented? Oh, I forgot, the prisons are nearly full.

Building new prisons would provide jobs and would boost the Gross National Product.

L Hobsbaum, Willow Crescent, Bradford.

Too many repeats

SIR - On August 26, BBC1 and 2 jointly transmitted 37 repeat programmes while the remaining three terrestrial channels, by a strange coincidence, also gave us 37 repeats between them.

How can the BBC justify increasing the TV licence this year by £5.50 to £126.50 with these statistics in mind? It's not surprising that DVD sales have rocketed.

D Rhodes, Croscombe Walk, Bradford.

An honest lady

SIR - May I thank the honest lady who jumped on to my bus just as it was leaving the Interchange in Bradford and asked me if it was my handbag left on the waiting seats. She saved me a lot of anguish.

J Wood, Idle, Bradford.