'What is wrong with town centre shopping?'

When I moved here, some seven years ago, there was a variety of individual, interesting shops alongside beautiful stores such as the Co-op.

I renovated my house and managed to buy everything I needed in the town centre, a stone’s throw away from where I now live. Fireplaces from Blazes, wallpaper and paint from Focus, carpets from the Co-op, furniture also from the Co-op. It would be almost impossible to do this now.

I realise that some stores close as big companies shut down non-profitable branches, such as Arcadia closing our Dorothy Perkins, and that online shopping is having a huge impact on city centres.

The new shopping centre off Jerry Croft is lovely, but what’s the use of a busy shopping centre if half the other city centre shops are closing?

I realise the economic climate plays a part, but why are some stores non-profitable? Footfall does not seem a problem, faced by the hordes of shoppers here, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays. Is it that rents and rates are too high? Better to have lower rents than empty shops and no rents.

There is nothing wrong with coffee shops, outdoor shops and discount stores such as Poundland and Boyes (not charity shops) but to attract shoppers you need to provide variety and choice. Skipton is losing these.

Before it becomes a ‘ghost town’ I urge someone, maybe the council, to urgently study why this is happening and try to remedy it (or at least slow it down).

Mrs Lesley Widdop Ermysted Street Skipton A different story Sir - When I moved to Skipton 18 months ago, one of the attractions for me was the High Street, with its independent shops, eclectic mix of market stalls four days a week, and the vibrant feel of the place. I was not surprised when the town was awarded the Best High Street title.

But, oh dear, what a different story the High Street tells now. Shops are closing on an almost daily basis. In the last few days we have lost Xtras, Superdrug and Birdcage, and rumour has it that other stores are shortly to close.

The number of market stalls has dwindled alarmingly and Craven Court seems to have as many unoccupied units as occupied.

The area between Boyes and Cavendish Street is nothing short of a disgrace and my heart goes out to the remaining business trying to keep going.

The whole town, in the last year, has developed a shabby and rundown feel, similar to other ‘failing’ towns. The pride and vibrancy has gone and I am saddened and appalled by this.

High rents and internet shopping are destroying our town, along with the parking problems and poor pedestrian crossing facilities.

The town council needs to look to its laurels very speedily, as the coach companies and tourists will soon go elsewhere. At least that will solve the Jerry Croft problem, I suppose.

Mair Forder Duke Street Skipton ‘Undo damage’ Sir - I was delighted to read that Carl Lamb was awarded a Seal of Excellence by NHBC (Craven Herald, page 23, February 26) and I congratulate him on making a good job of this building when we contrast it to the shambles Lovells has managed at Lambert Hills.

Perhaps now he could turn his excellent skills to undoing the damage that Mallory Court workmen have inflicted on the adjacent canalside. I contacted McCarthy and Stone on four occasions and they acknowledged that this is not their land and agreed to restore it, but so far this hasn’t happened.

There are post stumps from their safety hoardings still in the ground, the earth was grassed without being prepared properly and is very uneven and full of stones that I was told would be raked off but weren’t, gravel was dumped all around the seat which has gone all over the path and into the canal even though I myself shovelled up and carted away about half of it to try and reduce the problem.

Then they planted prickly pyracantha which will make the site difficult to keep clear of rubbish. The new grass will now have to be sliced off again so the site can be prepared and grassed properly. I myself will award him an accolade if he could undo what his workmen have done and leave a level, stone-free, properly grassed site that Canal and River Trust contractors and volunteers can easily maintain and keep free of dog muck and litter in the future.

Claire Nash Hall Croft Skipton Fox figures query Sir- I must question the statistics quoted by Katie Chabriere. In her letter published in your March 12 Craven Herald, she claims it is a fact that the law averages a prosecution every week with a conviction rate of 65 per cent, which relates to 338 convictions since 2005. She claims no source for this statistic, but one may assume that it was obtained from The League Against Cruel Sports, because of the similarity of their figures.

According to the International Fund for Welfare (IFAW), there were just 12 convictions for illegal fox hunting since the start of the ban, and the Daily Express on February 18 quote a lesser figure of just ten from over 300 registered hunts. Perhaps the LACS figures include all hunting with dogs including poaching, rabbiting etc. The LACS also claim that 80 per cent of the public want fox hunting banned. They may say the same about VAT without considering what would have to replace it.

I myself have absolutely no connection with fox hunting, but would venture to ask what the alternative is. Foxes have to be controlled, and there is no law against shooting, trapping, snaring or even gassing them. However, I would suggest that being killed by a pack of hounds may well be more humane than those previous alternatives which can lead to a slow lingering death, as may also happen to an old fox that can’t hunt for themselves.

Finally, Katie Chabriere also claims that if it is absolutely necessary to kill an animal, it is only right that it is done so in the most humane way possible. May I therefore exhort her to campaign strongly for the abolition of slaughtering animals without stunning them in the case of halal and kosher meat production.

Robert Hall Thornton-in-Craven A quicker death?

Sir - Firstly, Katie Chabriere should take note of Richard Colley’s letter in last weeks Herald about misleading readers. She informs readers of the high rate of conviction under the Hunting Act 2004 in her letter decrying foxhound packs going about the business of controlling fox numbers.

What she fails to mention is that the majority of people dealt with under the act are poachers. The latest set of figures I looked at show that in the last ten years only 24 people belonging to registered hunts have been dealt with under the act. Of those 24, 14 cases were either dropped, discontinued or the defendants found not guilty. That leaves just ten successful prosecutions. Hardly a roaring success over the course of a decade, is it?

It is at least 40 years since I followed the hunt and then only to qualify my horse for point-to point racing. In that time the majority of foxes killed were the old , the sick and the lame. Once caught they were killed quickly by the hounds. Far better than to die a lingering death because you are too old or ill to find food.

This led to a controlled, healthy fox population, surely every conservationist’s goal. In my time I have also seen foxes shot, trapped and poisoned - a far more painful and lingering death which, were I to inflict on my own livestock I would be, quite rightly, prosecuted.

You only have to look at the many mangy diseased foxes that you see creating problems in large towns nowadays to see that there has to be some form of control of these creatures. Forget the storybook images, these animals are vicious predators. If I were a fox I would rather go for a quick death from a pack of hounds than spend my last days in agony caught in a trap or after ingesting poison.

Paul Morley Ribblesdale Estate Long Preston It’s a global issue Sir - On the subject of fracking, Paul Irven (Letters, March 12) is anxious about ‘national interests’, which he cites three times, and conjures a future of UK energy needs held hostage to Russian and Middle Eastern instability. Let’s put to one side that we had a hand in creating that instability and let’s acknowledge that geopolitics and gung-ho politicians do not mix with sound energy policy.

After all, we just concluded a long war in Afghanistan which cost £40 billion and achieved nothing but death and further instability. It goes without saying that that $40 billion would have gone a long way as investment in alternative and sustainable sources of energy in the UK.

Mr Irven urges us to accept fracking on the basis of “experience gained from fracking in America”. That experience, however, has led to a growing number of moratoriums in the US from New York to Los Angeles based on an avalanche of scientific studies concluding that fracking gives off toxic emissions, contaminates water, and thus poses a significant threat to both public health and farming. When the tenth largest economy in the world, California, is moving toward a moratorium perhaps we should listen.

Unlike Mr Irven, others have been paying proper attention to the American experience: Scotland, France, Germany and Holland have all either banned or placed a moratorium on fracking. The Health and Environmental Alliance has called on a moratorium throughout Europe on public health grounds alone.

This is not a localised issue flying in the face of national interests, as Mr Irven claims. This is a global issue to do with climate change, our dependence on dangerous and polluting fossil fuel extraction, and our children’s health and future.

Bruce McLeod Otterburn Credit on fracking Sir - Credit where it is due. Conservative MP Anne McIntosh has strongly criticised new legislation on fracking.

Apparently the promised protection for national parks will not be included in detailed regulations until after the election. Anne has said that she is concerned fracking licences could be handed out without clear limits on the number of wells that could be created.

She has good reason to worry. Third Energy’s director has said that as many as 50 wells might be needed for the Ryedale fracking project in North Yorkshire. There will be nothing in legislation before May to prevent the same thing happening in national parks and word is that the promised legislation permits people to site their drills outside the park and drill under it.

I wonder what the reason is for delaying the decision on the new regulations until after the May elections? Are there also, perhaps, good reasons to speculate on what could possibly have caused the local Conservative party to deselect Anne?

Andy Brown Parliamentary Candidate for the Green Party for Skipton and Ripon Main Street Cononley Pledge on Europe Sir - At the hustings debate to select Julian Smith as the Conservative PPC for the May 2010 elections he was most keen to establish that if selected, he would fight to halt further controls being transferred to the EU whilst supporting the return of selected powers to Westminster. During the 2010 General Election campaign he reiterated this commitment on several occasions.

Almost five years later, the question is has he kept his pledge to the voters? According to TheyWorkForYou.com and the Bruges Group MP Watch List, Mr Smith is shown to be supportive of more EU integration (not less) and is on record as voting against a UK referendum on EU membership.

It is very clear to anyone who is interested in the truth/facts, that Julian Smith has at best paid little/no attention to what was considered a major pledge, prior to his selection as MP for the constituency.

Clearly he cannot be trusted on Europe. Only UKIP can be relied upon to return full sovereignty to Westminster. This will enable the UK to prosper outside the rigid, undemocratic United States of Europe project – the EU. David Cameron has repeatedly stated that if there is a referendum he will vote to remain in the EU. As Julian Smith rarely votes against the party whip, he will clearly vote to maintain the UK’s membership to the EU regardless of his promises, or the wishes of his voters.

In summary if you wish the UK to stop uncontrolled immigration, to the UK (624,000 people immigrated to the UK in the year ending September 2014 according the office for national statistics); if you want to stop the increasing demands being placed on UK hospitals and schools; if you want to cease the flow of cheap labour flooding our jobs market, then you should vote for the only party committed to leaving Europe – UKIP and that is a fact!

Alan Henderson Chairman UKIP Harrogate & Knaresborough PPC Skipton & Ripon Constituency Bishop Thornton Harrogate Fuel poverty fight Sir - A recent report found that 21 per cent of households in the Skipton & Ripon constituency are living in fuel poverty and are struggling to pay their energy bills. This makes it the fourth worst constituency in the Yorkshire & Humber region. It is a very worrying situation. People are having to choose between paying for food or heating their homes.

There has been relatively little coverage of Labour’s proposal for refurbishing existing housing but it is hugely significant. There are a number of benefits which flow from a programme to insulate and improve the energy performance of existing homes. These include reducing fuel poverty, cutting carbon emissions and boosting the economy and jobs through thousands of small construction businesses.

Labour has promised to insulate five million homes over ten years if it gets into government. This is the size of programme that is required to make a real difference and it shows how concerted government action is needed.

Compare this with the abject failure of the Green Deal, dreamt up by the Conservatives and Lib Dems. In the whole of the Skipton & Ripon constituency there have been just 313 assessments, let alone actual works implemented. The Green Deal has simply not been attractive enough to encourage homeowners to take it up and implement energy saving measures.

Only Labour has a serious and deliverable programme for tackling the scourge of energy poverty.

Malcolm Birks Labour Parliamentary candidate for Skipton and Ripon Old Mill Drive Colne ‘No facts refuted’ Sir - One letter last week accused me three times of dishonesty. No facts in my letter about Julian Smith’s absence from voting on sensitive topics have been refuted. And, Mr Colley, Ed Miliband (37 per cent) has voted more often as Leader of the Opposition than Cameron did in the same role (25 per cent).

May I raise two other matters? Julian Smith voted against scrapping the ‘beer tie’. (This allows owners of large pub chains to restrict tenants from buying drinks from others.) CAMRA and the Federation of Small Businesses were delighted that Government (including Julian) lost. Why are Tories in favour of big business against the little man or woman?

Many readers would be fascinated if our MP described his work as PPS in the Department for International Development. Please, Julian, thousands of us have supported Comic Relief which receives grants from Government. Could you tell readers about your work on development issues?

Bob Holland Skipton Road Cononley Charity’s thank-you Sir - The Cancer Research UK Bradford Fundraising Team would like to say a big thank-you to the people of Bradford, Keighley and Skipton for helping the team raise £58,299.61 from February 2014 to January 2015.

You have put money in our buckets, stood up to cancer, fundraised with friends, at work, school and even donated in memory of loved ones lost. Not forgetting all the amazing volunteers who help us; without them we wouldn’t be able to raise as much.

The team is here to help supporters with their fundraising by giving them support at the level they request. At the end of the day it’s your event and you are in control we only give you the support you request. Which can be from planning your event or just come and give a speech during or after the event.

Last year we helped supporters raise over £10,000. We are also looking for new business to take our goblets to help us raise funds.

The team don’t just fundraise, we also have a cancer information stand which we can set up in your business during staff lunch time. We are also looking to go into schools and talk to pupils in Year Eight and above about the dangers of skin cancer, which is the second largest type of cancer in the UK and also affects a large number of 18 to 24s. If you would like a more information on visits email Andy at andy.jackson@cancer.org.uk If you are wanting help with your fundraising event or to volunteer for us visit our website www.crukbradford.org.uk Andy Jackson Fundraising team co-ordinator Volunteer fundraising Cancer Research UK