THIS is the time of year for making plans and NYCC has issued its draft Local Transport Plan 4 – it somewhat ambitiously looks out as far as 2045.
Having said that the clear message, and indeed the ‘mantra’ throughout, is that because of continued austerity the best they will be able to do over the next 30 years is “to manage, maintain and improve transport networks and services”.
The Plan recognises that Craven, and Skipton in particular, is on the periphery of the area of responsibility, and thereby suffers economically from being ‘detached’ from the economic power corridor of the A1(M). In an ideal world they would like to make the A59 link to the A1(M) a dual carriageway bypassing Harrogate. However, unless special funding becomes available (Northern Powerhouse funds perhaps) they will have to content themselves with tinkering with passing places and further work on Kex Gill.
To the west they are specifically supportive of re-opening the Skipton/Colne rail line, not with any finance, but it is needed to alleviate what they recognise as ever-increasing commuter road traffic in both directions with no new roadway initiatives.
To the south of Craven they recognise the link to Bradford and Leeds with Skipton Station handling over a million passengers a year.
Rather worryingly this appears to suggest to them that in devolution terms that Craven along with Selby would be a natural fit with a Greater Leeds Metropolitan Council.
To the north the national park will become an ever-increasing refuge for us all, if only because as the Transport Plan recognises it will have what remains of decent air quality.
Having said that it will be saturated with cyclists according to the Plan, potholes will exist for longer, and buses will be a rarity! To a degree the Transport Plan encapsulates the dilemma for Skipton, are we a semi-industrial support at the far end of the Aire Valley for the Leeds /Bradford conurbation, or are we the charming market town leading to The Dales with Castle and tearooms for visitors.
Whether by accident or design the planners appear to have recognised this, insomuch as the light industry is to the south and the more expensive housing has gone to the north, although this could be undone if a saturation estate appears on the “pig-field”!
At least the broad sweep of the The Bailey down from the A59 gives the town one attractive entrance if ‘quality’ housing and spacing are sustained.
VINCE SMITH
Millholme Rise, Embsay

IN response to criticism (“Outrageous” MP votes to frack, December 24) that by supporting fracking he was putting party allegiance before his constituency, Julian Smith argued that he was actually putting people before profits: “The focus had to be put on lowering bills for consumers.”
Anyone who believes this misunderstands the ideological bent of the Government and Mr Smith’s fundamental and myopic vision, which is that of a business man.
That’s why we are “consumers” obsessed with bills rather than citizens anxious about our increasingly unstable environment, from flooding to fracking, as well as the link between climate change and the burning of fossil fuels.
But let’s talk the same lingo for a moment. The bill for righting the devastation caused by the recent flooding – flooding exacerbated by Mr Smith’s party reducing funding for and reneging on promises of flood protection – will indeed hit us “consumers” since it will be our taxes used to pay it off (estimated at £1.5bn).
And what of the bill that we’ll pay for fracking, a process that contaminates water, expels huge quantities of methane gas (a contributor to climate change) and contradicts the Paris agreements and David Cameron’s impassioned rhetoric about the ecological future of our grandchildren?
How does one reconcile Smith’s professed protection of the Dales or Cameron’s pledge to save the planet with their reckless environmental policies? Is it cynicism or that they just don’t care? No. It is simply that their ideological obsession with making money and the right of the monied to continue to enrich themselves trumps all other concerns. Their heads are not buried in the sand but in the trough.
The floods have forced them to briefly raise their heads and pledge (once again) to spend millions on defences etc. And then it will be back to business until the next environmental disaster.
BRUCE MCLEOD
Otterburn

A NUMBER of letters on flooding and climate change (Craven Herald, January 7) made excellent observations. Anthony Bradley (We’re all in it together regarding the floods) particularly made good sense calling for a holistic approach to flood prevention necessitating both a rural and urban redesign to absorb and slow water.
He also rightly points out that this will be expensive and runs counter to the Government’s ongoing austerity measures, which have included cutting funds for flood prevention.
Mr Bradley’s clear-sighted critique contrasts sharply with Peter Rigby’s myopic vision (“The game is up for expensive wind farms”).
His denial of climate change due to the burning of fossil fuels contradicts 95 per cent of the world’s scientists and the majority of world leaders. It is a bit like denying any causal link between smoking and lung cancer. Are all those who gathered in Paris recently in an attempt to slow climate change dupes of a vast conspiracy to . . . what? Build wind farms?
Why does Mr Rigby attack wind farms as unfairly subsidised when all forms of energy production are subsidised? Why call wind power “hideously expensive” when it comes nowhere near the fabulously expensive nuclear industry and does not leave behind the radioactive time bomb of spent fuel rods that we bequeath to future generations? Why?
Because the Government and big money continue to back fossil fuel extraction, including fracking. Talk of climate change is bad for business and profit margins.
Apparently, crows Mr Rigby, the “game is up” in the UK for alternative, renewable sources of energy (wind and solar). However the far more dangerous game of the massively subsidised (mostly foreign-owned) fossil fuel industry is safe to carry on polluting and warming the atmosphere to the detriment of our children’s and the planet’s future.
NAOMI WALLACE
Otterburn

MR Knox has hit the nail firmly on the head (Will our MP stand up against fracking, Letters, December 31).
Fracking is not done in the Home Counties where house prices mean so much.
I’ll wait and see if our MP votes with the Government or against it.
JEFF BILBROUGH
Hebden

REGARDING ‘Library needs volunteers (Craven Herald, December 31), here we go again. No doubt our council taxes will start going up in leaps and bounds again shortly.
Take a look around Silsden, it’s dying a slow death, no banks left, no public toilets, pubs closing, shops empty, the town is a mess.
We certainly get a raw deal for the amount of council tax (rates) that must be collected in Silsden alone every year.
Thousands wasted on unsightly flood defences an eyesore, potholes in many roads that go unrepaired for months on end.
If Brad Met go ahead and close the library, it will be the last straw for the many residents who use the facility.
For far too long our rates “taxes” have flowed one way and that is to central Bradford. I was fortunate enough to remember Silsden Urban District Council before we were conned into going in with Bradford Met, what a disaster that has been.
Things used to be put right straight away under SUDC, paths ploughed and gritted with motorised ploughs in winter, parks and graveyards looked after properly, we even had our own park keeper who was employed full-time on that task alone.
What a lovely park it was too. We had our own street cleaners, absolutely everything was done in house and we weren’t ripped off with our rates bills either.
Too much of our money is now wasted and squandered on silly projects.
Everything that needs doing we have to wait as services have to be shipped in from Keighley and further afield.
If only we could turn the clock back, what a great place Silsden could be once again. A town to be proud of.
IAN BAILEY
Waterside, Silsden

WHAT an extraordinarily stupid statement made by an anonymous Craven officer to Mr Colin Smith after he accused the council of raising cash by removing the disabled parking benefit (Outrage is sparked at parking cost move, Craven Herald, January 7).
Mr Smith suggested that if the reason behind the change was to reduce inequality, then why not simply allow free parking for blue badge holders wherever they park? I made this exact point in a previous letter to your newspaper.
It is surely preferable that they park when possible in a car park rather than on yellow lines in the busy High Street where it actually would be free.
However the unnamed officer replied that “it was reasonable to expect all car park users to pay for the parking service they use”.
Would he or she also agree that it was equally reasonable for they themselves to pay for services they use be it education, health, police and fire services, all of which are paid for already in the council tax?
ROBERT HALL
Thornton-in-Craven

I WRITE with reference to the introduction of overnight parking charges for HGVs (Overnight parking charges to come in, Craven Herald, January 7).
Now our council are at it again spending £25,000 to earn £10,000 in two years time!! Who is going to police it?
Look at the farce at Craven Swimming Baths where they set up a programme and got one payment of £8 in how many months?
Come on Craven Council put common sense into practice, spend money on projects which are beneficial to our community and if you do so enforce it by policing it.
Why do you not try charging the drunks who litter the streets in the early hours of Saturday or Sunday morning with cans bottles and take away food papers? The reason: motorists are easy targets.
ZA PAVILIONIS
Hill Top Close, Embsay

NONE of us want to see junior doctors taking industrial action. So Health Minister Jeremy Hunt should call off the new contract. That’s all. NHS hospitals have a superb record. Leave them alone, Hunt.
The Tory majority of MPs who get £74 ,000 plus lavish expenses etc for part-time jobs (many have other earnings) demand that these doctors, paid on average £37,000 (including many stressful hours on overtime at night and week-ends) must work harder and longer for basic pay up to 89 hrs per week.
These doctors are outstanding people. They are highly intelligent, work exceptionally hard at school and university; they say that the hours demanded will place patients in danger. Their jobs are incredibly stressful now, as they deal with life/death decisions.
Doctors trained here will go abroad if this contract is imposed. So for the sake of us all (especially pensioners like me, aged 77, who are the main users of the NHS) the doctors are resisting this policy.
Jeremy Hunt alleges that patients admitted during weekends are more likely to die than those admitted on week-days. The statistics experts say his use of data is misleading. In common sense we know, most admissions to hospital in the week are when lives are not in danger. But if you are in immediate danger you may be admitted during a weekend. The two groups of patients are not comparable.
Please, readers, write urgently to your MPs opposing this wreckless Minister.
ROBERT HOLLAND
Skipton Road, Cononley

ON behalf of Candlelighters fighting children’s cancer and leukaemia at Leeds General Infirmary, may I again convey a “most sincere thank you” to all who kindly contributed to my annual festive season charity “banter blitz” around the district’s pubs and hostelries.
One bloke, one bucket but one truly fantastic display of people’s generosity which on this latest occasion realised another magnificent amount, £4,438.57. Thank you also to the respective mine hosts and managements for again allowing me to collect on their premises.
Details of how all fundraising money is spent in terms of research, treatment of patients and remedial care, can be found in the Candlelighter’s quarterly magazine of which I have quite a number of back issues, should anyone wish to peruse.
ROGER INGHAM
Aldersley Avenue, Skipton

I WOULD like to say a big thank you to all the people who came to the rescue of my 85-year-old mother when her car got stuck in floodwater at Gargrave on Sunday.
Thank you for all the people who pushed her car through the flood to the side of the road and a big thank you to the family who so kindly brought her home to Long Preston and saw her safely indoors. A big big thank you to you all, your kindness was very much appreciated.
JANET THOMPSON
Thorndale Street, Hellifield

FURTHER to my letter of last week (Why didn’t we have full consultation), I am delighted by how many local residents have contacted me expressing their concerns about the impact of the Wyvern Park development and the absence of any proper consultation undertaken by Craven District Council.
CDC, its officers and elected representatives have so far shown complete indifference to our concerns to the point where emails are ignored and local councillors do not respond to telephone calls.
This is incredibly disappointing particularly as all I am seeking is proper consultation around the impact of the Wyvern Park development and the opportunity to work with CDC to provide an acceptable solution to all of those affected.
Surely it is better to work together to find a solution than for CDC to put barriers in our way and demonstrate no care or concern for local council tax payers. I am struggling to believe that CDC does not care for local residents - please prove me wrong.
TIM FORMAN
Skipton

I WRITE to express my thanks to the many people of Yorkshire who were out and ready to help their neighbours during the December storms – from churches and community centres that opened their doors to those who handed out cups of tea in the driving rain.
We saw the real Yorkshire spirit and people’s generosity exceeded all expectations.
I also want to thank the members of the emergency services, military, Environment Agency, volunteers and all others who responded.
I saw for myself first-hand teams of people from across the country who had travelled at short notice to help total strangers in any way they could – many giving up time with their families over the festive period to help affected communities.
To all those who gave so much time and effort your contribution was invaluable, thank you.
ELIZABETH TRUSS
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

I COULDN’T agree more with Eleanor Hartley Smith (Don’t leave the canal towpath in darkness, Letters, January 7).
It really is scandalous that the various authorities can’t reach some compromise to resolve the issue of the lighting of the canal towpath. It seems that it will take someone to fall in the canal (or worse) before some common sense can be brought to bear on the question.
Come on you councillors and Canal and River Trust officers; it can’t be that difficult!
BILL THOMPSON
Hall Croft, Skipton

I WOULD like to thank everyone in the Settle and Skipton areas who helped make Marie Curie’s Christmas street and supermarket collections a huge success this year – raising a staggering £940.
From our brilliant volunteer donation collectors who tirelessly encouraged people to donate, to everyone who gave what they could to support people with a terminal illness – I want to say a big, heartfelt thank-you.
Our annual Christmas Collections Appeal raises funds so that Marie Curie nurses can provide free nursing care to people with a terminal illness in the comfort of their own homes. Marie Curie nurses bring light in the darkest of hours. They work through the night giving care and support but this is only possible with the help of people like you.
With the funds raised by this year’s appeal, Marie Curie nurses will be able to provide terminally ill patients and their families with more of the hands-on care and emotional support that the charity is known for.
Both Marie Curie Settle and Ribblesdale Fundraising Group and Marie Curie Skipton Fundraising Group are looking to recruit new members to help manage collections and support the team to increase awareness of the charity and raise more funds. If you would like to join the group, then please contact me at sharon.link@mariecurie.org.uk or on 01274 386197.
SHARON LINK
Community Fundraiser
Marie Curie, Craven area