Letters to the Editor

SIR, - Contrary to Addingham Parish Council's chairman, Gordon Campbell's view, planners can be persuaded to change their mind.

When the first draft of the traffic lights scheme was issued it contained no provision for a pedestrian crossing on the Leeds Road side of the Brook Street lights. Evidence of the number of pedestrians crossing here persuaded the planners to change their minds.

In my views the greater safety of pedestrians at the point justifies the scheme. Providing time for pedestrians here, together with the general increase in traffic levels should have led to a big increase in queuing traffic inside Ilkley.

There are still times when long queues build up but, as someone who walks along the A65, my impression is that Skipton Road has improved and Leeds Road has not got worse.

The Victoria Avenue lights seem to be better at reducing congestion in Ilkley than those at Wheatley have in Ben Rhydding. This is due to the beneficial effects of right turning traffic at Victoria Avenue. Traffic out of town can move freely while traffic inwards isn held back.

This is exactly what the scheme was designed to do. There are disadvantages.

Contrary to Paul Langan's report, the average time increase of four minutes from Silsden Road to Brook Street actually confirms the anecdotal evidence of very long delays suffered by some motorists.

The lights also cause hazards and delays to emergency vehicles. I agree with Councillor Campbell that a further set of lights should be installed a few hundred yards towards Addingham.

Here the road is exactly wide enough for three lanes. The third lane should be for buses. This would improve journey times for all bus passengers and at least a minority of motorists,

Colin Carpenter

Grove Road,

Ilkley.

Pub opportunity

SIR, - I was surprised to read in the Gazette the Inspector's decision to refuse permission for the proposed residential conversion of The Wheatley.

But what an opportunity for the local residents and SUP supporters who are apparently desperate for the reinstatement of their local pub, function room and meeting place for various groups.

Punch Taverns or some other pub / leisure company can update and re-open The Wheatley as a pub on a 24-hour basis, convert the function room into a night club to replace the recent loss of El Trav in Ilkley and once again provide meeting rooms for local groups. The large car park could make a useful venue for Sunday car boot sales.

However, as a one-time resident of Ben Rhydding for 18 years and a regular of The Wheatley pub and function room at the time of Chris and Irene Haw,

I recall the repeated requests for people leaving events after mid night not to bang car doors, stand around talking in the car park or on Brighton Road (nor to park on this road) as the nearby residents complained.

When The Wheatley reopens it will inevitably become the 'in' place to go as has happened in Ilkley each time a new place opens up or is refurbished and what do these Ben Rhyydding residents expect their currently peacefull evenings and weekends will be like?

M A Pollard

Guiseley.

Panel let-down

SIR, - The people who objected to planning proposals for the Wheatley Hotel to be replaced by housing have won their case at a public inquiry (Letters March 23).

Good luck to them. The Keighley Area Planning Panel rejected the Planning Officer's recommendation; and threw out the proposals.

That was the trigger that produced a public inquiry, and the success of the objectors. The Area Planning Panel could have done the same for the cemetery and thrown out the proposals to turn the Ilkley Cemetery chapels into a commercial area.

In common decency those planning proposals should never have been made; nor passed. Our objections were supported by clergy who officiate at burials. The Panel were unmoved.

There is no other cemetery in Ilkley. The two businesses making the applications do not have to set up shop in our cemetery, among the graves and burials of our loved ones. The Panel failed us.

A refusal by the Panel would have given us a public inquiry. Questions could have been asked in depth about reconstruction being called 'refurbishment'; about 'property development' in

a cemetery; about who gets the gains from increasing 'property values' of public cemetery buildings as purpose-built business premises; and, most important of all, about what makes a 'cemetery'.

Now these have become questions for the Standards Committee. Bradford Council has a duty to enforce covenants in the lease to act in the interests of the visitors to the cemetery, and so bring common decency back into this situation. We are waiting for the council to do just that.

EDWIN S C H I R N

18 Victoria Grove,

Ilkley.

Ward issues

SIR, - In response to Mr Dundas' letter of March 16 regarding the number of councillors to represent the Ilkley and Ben Rhydding Wards at the forthcoming Elections, I would point out that :

l Parish administrative boundaries are a matter for the Secretary of State.

l Parish electoral arrangements, i.e. parish wards and numbers and allocations of parish councillors, are a matter for the Electoral Commission.

l The creation and abolition of parish councils are matters for district councils.

Christine Dale

Ilkley Parish Clerk.

School praised

SIR, - Many congratulations to students and staff of Ilkley Grammar School to the professional and very entertaining presentation of 'Live at the Empire'. To me it exemplified the best of comprehensive school education.

Ilkley Grammar School over the years has been high in the country's league tables for academic achievement but not, as shown by this week's performance, at the expense of other aspects of school life.

It was particularly gratifying to see a school event encompassing all ages and abilities, and the cooperation between drama, music and art departments. Such a performance could not have been achieved without the enthusiasm so obvious in the liveliness of all the cast, ably supported by the orchestra, not so visibly evident but such an integral part of the whole.

M Wetherall

12 Birchwood Court,

Ilkley.

Unfathomable

SIR, - I read with dismay your main story in the Gazette of March 16.

For the Highways Department to claim that there is in effect no problem caused by the Victoria Road traffic lights is unfathomable.

Without exception, I know of no-one who supports the current arrangement; the volume and sentiments of letters published in the Gazette since their installation suggests that an overwhelming majority of Ilkley and Addingham residents agree. What happened to good, old-fashioned commonsense?

I accept that congestion on our roads is one of the necessary irritations of modern life, in the same way that mobile phones and estate agents are. However, surely we should be looking to improve the situation, not add to it.

P J McCUTCHEON

Noseby Cottage,

Middleton,

Ilkley.

Drug testing

SIR, - In a recent issue of the Ilkley Gazette there is an article inviting women at risk of developing breast cancer to contact Airedale Hospital to take part in a trial involving the aromatase inhibitor drug - Anastrazole (Arimidex).

The trial is inviting disease-free healthy women to volunteer to take either a placebo or Anastrazole for several years - 'help us find out more about preventing breast cancer', it says.

Before healthy women volunteer it is worth noting that of the women currently involved in trials of Anastrazole, ten per cent experience varying degrees of joint swelling, stiffness and pain and others are experiencing hair thinning and debilitating hot flushes.

For some women, these symptoms are so bad that even if they have had breast cancer, they are stopping the drug.

A wealth of knowledge is already known about prevention of this disease but is rarely seen in the mainstream media because there is no monetary gain and the potential financial bonanza for Astra Zeneca is mind boggling as they strive to persuade women that the true path to prevention involves harmful drugs for many years.

The incidence of breast cancer in western countries, ranges from one in seven to one in ten and rising. Therefore soon almost everyone will be related to someone who has suffered the disease, and therefore meets the criteria, music to the ears of the drug companies.

There have been detailed studies done by Dr Colin Campbell and associates in China which show that the amount of animal protein consumed is directly associated with cancer and degenerative diseases. People in rural China and Thailand have a fraction of typical Western diseases such as cancer and heart disease. There is an inverse effect with the amount of vegetable protein consumed.

The best advice is to consume no more than ten per cent of your food intake as animal protein, that includes dairy, chicken, red meat and fish. Substitute for fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes and soya milk.

You might not want to hear it but the facts are that this diet is the one for optimal health and independence from drug companies and hospitals. It's really that simple, don't let any doctor tell you otherwise.

Anne Preater

Ilkley.

Shop reunion

SIR, - This March we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Ilkley Oxfam shop - the first ever charity retailer in the town.

We would love to hear from past workers - both staff and volunteers - to invite them to join our celebration party.

Please call in the shop or ring 01943 602524 if you would like to join our party

Shelagh Hopkinson

Oxfam,

Ilkley.

Umbrella lost

SIR, - Perhaps one of your readers can help. On Friday, March 17, I got off the 4.02pm Leeds train in Ilkley at 4.29pm but inadvertently left my umbrella hanginging by its handle over the back of a seat.

I had been walking out of the station for only a minute when I realised that I had left it on the train and quickly ran back. The train was still in the station and though I searched the carriage and asked the conductor if she had seen it, the umbrella had clearly already been 'rescued'.

I tried the booking office at Ilkley Station straight away and then several times on following days. I also tried Lost Property at Leeds Station. However, the umbrella has not turned up.

The reason why I am so keen to have it back is that it was a special present. It is a lady's full-size umbrella, navy blue with a wooden handle and spike. If anyone does know of its whereabouts, perhaps he or she could return it to the Ilkley Station booking office where I will leave my contact details.

M GALLAGHER

Ilkley Hall Park,

Ilkley.

Letter found

SIR, - May I, through your columns, thank the kind person who found a letter addressed to me in the Ilkley snow, put it unopened in a freshly-stamped envelope and sent it to me.

JOAN DUNCAN

20 Westville Avenue,

Ilkley.