Library ramp user thanks

her campaign helpers

SIR, - Last week's Wharfedale Observer reported the installation of the library wheelchair ramp giving me the access I have been asking for the last ten years.

I hope that other wheelchair users will also benefit from this until the new library is opened next year. This was only possible due to the support of many people and I would like to acknowledge their work and thank them.

Firstly I would like to thank Councillor Neville Birch who gave stalwart support and attended meetings with council representatives. Without his help I would still be waiting outside in the cold, wet, noise and vehicle pollution. He is a pillar of Otley and we are lucky to have such a dedicated councillor.

Also my thanks to Karen Popplewell, of Otley Disabled Advisory Group, and to Tim McSharry of the Leeds Access Committee, which shamed Leeds Council into complying with the Disability Discrimination Act.

Finally I wish to thank the reporters of the Wharfedale Observer who have been accurate, balanced and fair in publicising my complaints. Thank you.

I was disappointed that the council spokeswoman failed to apologise and continues to make excuses for their contempt of the Disability Discrimination Act. They have learned nothing and display a complete lack of understanding of disability and my rights to have access to public buildings.

It is my hope that a judicial decision will prevent them from repeating discrimination in the future.

Being out in the community is perhaps the single most important part of my life. There is no substitute for that. The limited service of a mobile library would imprison me and emphasise my disability.

The public should know that the lives of disabled people (and their carers) are made all the more difficult by fighting hidden Institutional discrimination. Discrimination you only understand when it applies to you.

Mrs Freda Naylor

21 Grange View,

Otley.

Not the plaice

SIR, - Not everyone would agree with Mr Wealdon and his friends who would like to see a fish restaurant on the banks of the River Wharfe. There are several good restaurants in the vicinity, including 'the world's most famous', which would have fish and chips on their menus.

The developers want to build much more than a restaurant. They want to develop the whole riverside, including other amenities of their own choosing, without reference to the residents of Ilkley, Ben Rhydding and Burley-in-Wharfedale and perhaps not necessarily with free access. I, for one, would not welcome a sports centre on that particular site. However, I do support sports centres and I have already suggested other sites in Ben Rhydding to the Parish Council.

It would also involve a large car park along the river bank for cars, minibuses and even coaches - and we all know that the narrow road on the A65 between Denton Bridge and the notorious Manor Park Bends could not cope with cars coming from east and west, then slowing down to turn across the flow of traffic into the car park.

Just across the road there is a Little Chef restaurant which has stood derelict for a couple of years now and is ripe for development. It is a large and pleasant site in an elevated position, which could be redeveloped into a fish restaurant and, from its higher position, would have a good view across the river.

The present riverside site is an eyesore but there are no irremovable buildings. The existing concrete bases could be easily removed. It would be nice to have a riverside park, within walking and cycling distance (no car park) on the Ben Rhydding side of Ilkley, where residents could enjoy family picnics.

The green lung between is valued by Ilkley, Ben Rhydding and Burley-in-Wharfedale. Once it is covered in concrete, it is gone forever. I would prefer that Ilkley Parish Council and Bradford Council should decide how to improve the riverside area for the benefit of local residents. And yes. residents should have their say.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Ilkley.

Shooting

SIR, - October 1saw the start of the pheasant shooting season in this country. While shooters and their lobbyists will want to paint a picture of country folk shooting a handful of birds for food, the reality is often very different.

Last Saturday saw the beginning of a season of the mass slaughter of intensively reared pheasants by paying customers.

Do the businessmen and tourists paying to take part in this annual killing spree know or care that the gamebirds they are shooting probably began life being intensively reared in factory farms?

Do they know or care, that less than 40 per cent of the reared gamebirds abandoned into the countryside are actually shot, and that the majority are killed by traffic, disease or predators? Do they really believe that such a high death rate for released and abandoned birds is acceptable?

Do any of the people willing to pay thousands of pounds a day to kill hundreds of gamebirds know or care that their live targets can end up dumped in pits at the end of the shooting day?

Or that throughout the year many estates wage a war on wildlife that, it is estimated, results on average in the deaths of more than 12,000 mammals and other birds a day, many the innocent victims of indiscriminate snares and other predator control measures?

Perhaps they know and just don't care a jot about the slaughter of our wildlife for sport and profit. The League Against Cruel Sports believes that intensive factory farming of gamebirds and their abandonment in their millions into the countryside is unacceptable. We would urge everyone involved in this bloody business to find something better to do on Saturday than to go out killing for fun.

Douglas Batchelor

Chief Executive,

League Against Cruel

Sports.

Extremism

SIR, - The start of the game shooting season in the UK has produced a predictable new phenomenon. Every autumn extreme animal rights groups crawl from the undergrowth, blinking in the light, with their traditional harsh cries of 'Ban it all, ban it all!' True to form Animal Aid has started using your letters page to mark its territory (letters, September 22).

Contrary to their opinion, game shooting is a force for good in the countryside. It is supported by DEFRA and many well respected countryside and conservation bodies.

Rural Affairs Minister Jim Knight recently said in the press: "I can tell you categorically that I have not considered any restrictions which would affect the shooting industry; it is on our agenda to restore the industry. That isn't to say that there aren't issues to be discussed, but the shooting industry is a vital part of the rural economy and also plays a vital role in the conservation of habitats."

Animal Aid takes an extreme view on many issues. It wants to ban the Grand National and claims milk is bad for babies. Their ultimate aim is to turn us into a nation of vegans.

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation is a responsible representative body for country shooting with more than 120,000 members. We are widely recognised as working to ensure the highest standards in shooting and its related conservation work.

Helen Shuker

Press Officer,

British Association for

Shooting and

Conservation,

Marford Mill,

Rossett , Wrexham.

Hard work

SIR, - I would like to thank the hard work of all the volunteers who made Disability Month for the Year of the Volunteer a success.

Throughout September disabled volunteers demonstrated the variety of ways they help in the community, from giving advice on disability rights to escorting visitors around National Trust properties, volunteering is a great way for disabled people to improve their self confidence while developing skills for the workplace.

It is equally essential to recognise the people who volunteer with charities like CSV, Mencap and Scope to support disabled people to lead full and active lives.

Sue Gwaspari

CSV Director,

237 Pentonville Road,

London N1 9NJ.