Letters to the Editor

SIR - In a recent T&A article, Maud Marshall said regeneration is about so much more than bricks and mortar. I have to say, she could have fooled me.

Ever since setting foot in our city she seems to have been totally focussed on the bricks and mortar of the old Odeon Theatre building, that is to say she wants to see them razed to the ground.

There has been no attempt by BCR to invite specialist developers in theatre restoration to look at conversion to a concert hall with facilities to stage other events, including re-opening the ballroom and restaurant.

Let us suppose Maud Marshall and her BCR team were to build a Taj Mahal-like piece of architecture, surrounded by water gardens. It would indeed be grand.

However, if its use was more of what we already have - hotels, bars, cafes and apartments - it would not be a just replacement for the existing Odeon building. It would just be an outstanding building with no real link to the Alhambra Theatre and Museum of Photography, Film and Television.

We still have time to secure this link if more people, including our councillors and planners, speak out in favour of retaining the Odeon.

Remember when the Alhambra's future was put on the line and was only saved at the eleventh hour? We can do it again, if the will is there.

John Wilkinson, Meadowbank Avenue, Allerton.

l Maud Marshall replies: "Bradford Centre Regeneration (BCR) has indeed invited specialist developers to look at the Odeon building - we are currently holding an international design competition involving some of the world's finest architects and developers.

"These expert developers have been completely free to put forward whatever plans they feel would work best for the Odeon - there has certainly been no pressure or bias from BCR as to what these plans should involve and each entry will be treated on its merits.

"The deadline for final submissions is March 31, following which there will be a period of public consultation so Bradfordians can view the three designs and give us their feedback.

"As we do not yet know what these submissions will involve I urge people to wait to see what the three teams of experts have come up with before making up their minds."

Such a let-down

SIR - I must say how impressed I am with all the work going on in the Manningham district. There is a super new health centre, Lister's Mill is coming along and much of the paving is being replaced.

However, it is such a shame the area is so covered with litter. There are bags of takeaway cartons simply dumped in the street, along with bottles, cans and paper.

On one small 'green' space someone has left an old toilet pan for someone else to clear up. This is sitting close to the broken-down length of guttering.

With all the money being spent on regeneration and all the hard work being put in, surely the people who live there and have a stake in the area could help to keep it clean?

In days gone by shopkeepers would sweep the pavement in front of their premises and householders would do the same outside their front steps. Now no-one seems to bother, which is a shame.

Cathy MacKay, Bailey Hills Road, Bingley.

What democracy?

SIR - My father fought in the Second World War for what he thought was the freedom of the British people. However, I'm sure he would turn in his grave now if he could see what's happening to that so-called freedom.

We are now told we must wear seat belts, cannot use mobiles and cannot smoke when we like. What will they ban next, people having a drink in their local? So much for our democracy.

Terry Smith, Fair Road, Wibsey.

Lucky to be alive!

SIR - Unlike L A Egglestone (T&A, March 18) I have no sympathy for the Guantanamo prisoners.

I do not forget that on 9/11 almost 3,000 people died in appalling circumstances following an attack by terrorists trained in Afghanistan.

To prevent another similar incident, President Bush ordered pre-emptive action and in the war that followed prisoners were taken.

About 700 were found to be foreign nationals fighting as non-uniformed irregulars in support of Taliban forces and not therefore recognised as combatants by the Geneva convention.

Without its protection they can count themselves fortunate to have been captured by the Americans because in other wars in other parts of the world such soldiers of fortune would have suffered summary execution.

Who - other than the likes of Mr Egglestone - can blame the Americans for acting as they have because the detainees went to Afghanistan as volunteers to fight for a regime which was actively encouraging further murderous outrages against the West?

Brian Holmans, Langley Road, Bingley.

No enforcement

SIR - P Hainsworth (T&A, March 18) complains about the threats of legal action in Springwood, Esholt, and the lack of officials to enforce it.

I quite agree with him and here are several more by-laws and laws which are broken with seeming regularity without any proper lack of enforcement.

Dog fouling: I have never seen or heard of any dog warden enforcing this by-law.

Use of mobile telephones in vehicles while driving: I have seen this law broken on a daily basis but again have not heard of anyone who has been prosecuted.

Vehicles driven during the hours of darkness with only one headlight: extremely dangerous, but again no prosecutions.

Damage to grass verges: just in and around the Wrose area where I live one can see how badly damaged the verges are by indiscriminate parking by residents. Easy enough to warn residents but again nothing done.

No doubt your readers know of other laws that are not enforced.

T Ryman, Wrose Road, Bradford.

Respect is the key

SIR The Bradford District Faiths Forum was established to raise wider faith-related issues that affect the Bradford district.

Over the past year there have been various incidents that have been hurtful and thought-provoking on a faith level. The media attention to the Danish cartoons regarding the caricature of the Prophet Mohammed and now recently Jerry Springer: The Opera soon to be shown at the Alhambra.

We of the Bradford District Faiths Forum, with members of the different faiths in the district, believe that the above examples do not further debate on how we live together, and do not help us live with the hard issues of religious and secular differences.

Freedom of speech is important, but our sense of the sacred is also important. It honours our deepest aspirations to be fully human.

If our society is not to fracture we need to understand and respect how a great many people live their lives. We need an informed understanding of deeply-held convictions.

For this we need imagination, empathy and civility, not mockery. And we need to work together for the common good.

We believe there are other pressing issues that we would prefer to put our time into - poor housing, alienated communities, homelessness, debt, lawlessness, the environment crisis, peace issues and unfair world trade.

Zahida Khan, Chairman of Bradford District Faiths Forum, Peckover Street, Bradford.

Ban is ignored

SIR - The story about smoking at the BRI was interesting but the ban will not work if it is not followed by instant fines and on-the-spot discipline.

We pussyfoot about when these things are introduced.

It's almost four years since a smoking ban was introduced in Bradford Interchange. Yet even now that is ignored despite the public tannoy system announcing regularly "This is a no smoking area".

I don't think any amount of signs and announcements will change the situation.

Eric Heywood, Edward Turner Close, Low Moor, Bradford.