I AM a local resident of Aldersley Avenue and my family have lived in these houses since 1937, when they where built after the war for local people.
I understand progress has to be made and that homes do need to be built for the ever-growing public – Shock as housing plan is prepared (Craven Herald, May 26).
However, the proposed outline plans I received from Persimmon show 96 private dwellings to be built and, yes, they do look very nice. But the access to and from this site is to be from Aldersley Avenue onto Shortbank Road only.
With emergency access off Moorview Way, which is a nightmare to get down at the present time, and with the local area already seeing an increase in traffic due to the homes built in Elsey Croft, with average two-car families, this is going to add extra strain on the local road network with the potential of another 192 cars added to this area in Shortbank Road.
I would also like point out that with the recent flooding in December/January, the area was flooded as the rainfall overloaded the storm drains on Rombalds Moor above the beck that runs across this land and into Waller Beck at the bottom of Shortbank. With the land to be altered, this would potentially cause more incidents of this type when we have heavy rainfall.
I know the Environment Agency is trying to alleviate this issue.
I have spoken to many of my neighbours and they, like myself, accept that homes do need to be built, but why does this have to be only one-way access and could this not be linked into Otley Road along with Elsey Croft? This would ease the traffic issues on an already busy road.
I had leased one of the garages from the council to help alleviate roadside parking up here, as this is a bus route. Parking is a major problem at certain times of the day and weekends. Now, I have to find a place to park my two cars and works van along with other residents.
The council removing us from the land to make an access route for these homes has created more issues for parking.
I have contacted my local councillor, Eric Jaquin (Skipton East), and have requested he arrange a meeting for the residents and Persimmon to attend as it has requested people e-mail their comments, but some of the residents are elderly and don’t have access to e-mail.
DARREN SHAW
Aldersley Avenue, Skipton

I LIVE in Shortbank Road opposite the start of Aldersley Avenue.
You invited opinions on the proposed 96-house development – Shock as housing plan is prepared (Craven Herald, June 2).
While I accept the plot of land described in the town plan makes sense to reduce housing pressures in Skipton, in principle at least, this should not be attempted without separate access to Otley Road, possibly teamed up with Skipton Properties’ Elsey Croft development off Moorview Way.
Building anywhere around Skipton is going to involve destruction of beautiful countryside, so this is always going to result in difficult decisions for planners and will upset a good number of people. We are, of course, very lucky to be in that situation, living in a nationally-renowned stunning part of the world, and I guess we will have to swallow some of this bitter medicine.
We don’t, however, need to destroy the existing built environment, too, by lack of forethought. Allowing a very conservative estimate of 1.5 cars per property, Elsey Croft and Persimmon’s venture together will result in a minimum of 1,000 additional vehicle trips per day through the restricted railway bridge in Shortbank Road, and crossing the roundabout at the bottom of Otley Road. It’s already getting busy and worse when town chokes up at the weekend or even market days.
There are some suggestions people heading south and west could cut through the Greatwood Estate, but that is already quite heavily used and bottlenecks at the canal bridge, so is less than ideal.
We missed the opportunity and lacked the forethought to tackle this when Elsey Croft was signed off. Let’s not go there again.
On balance, probably a necessary evil with the access route. Horrendous mistake without.
CHRIS SIMPSON
Shortbank Road, Skipton

IS BUSINESS running Craven District Council (CDC)?
It has to be asked, we have to wonder, are our duly elected representatives acting in the interest of Craven residents or vested self-interest?
I refer to two stories of the past week, firstly ‘Shock as housing plan is prepared’, where building developer Persimmon proposes to build 96 houses on land accessed via council land that has recently gone up for sale.
That land was only recently vacated by throwing out the residents of garages, which were built upon it. Coincidence? One moment CDC declares the garages “in a poor state” and unceremoniously throws the tenants out.
Then we have the fate of the disabled parking spaces in Skipton High Street outside the town hall. In ‘Bid to axe disabled bays sparks outrage’, CDC, servants of the people, proposes removing the bays and moving to a couple of spaces in the main car park. Oh, and another coincidence is that Wildwood Restaurants is to open an eatery in the town hall right where these disabled space currently are.
Again, CDC comes up with ‘reasons’, but neglects to tell us how much it will be getting from Wildwood for the use of the town hall.
Is it a conflict of interest? Do we have a council that considers the quality of life of their residents (and voters)? Questions, questions.
NIC FOXTON
Pendle Street, Skipton

SUMMER is upon us, I have just seen a queue of caravans held up by a gaggle of cyclists.
Whoopee!
ROD MEREDITH
Langcliffe