Is this rail project a good use of money?

SIR - I am responding to the comments by Jane Wood (‘Re-opening of rail route is justifiable’, Craven Herald letters, March 8) in reply to my letter (March 1), in which she seeks to justify the estimated £100m cost of reopening of the Skipton to Colne railway line.

Yes, there are engineering solutions to the many physical obstructions, but these would come at a high cost, particularly where the trackbed has been built over in Skipton, Earby, Colne and elsewhere.

The reopened Borders railway route from Galashiels to Edinburgh – over which incidentally as a child I travelled on its penultimate day of 4th January 1969 – is not significantly more challenging other than it was almost three times the length.

Judging from her letter, the plan to run trains from Skipton to Manchester and to Manchester Airport no longer applies if, as she implies, the current aim is merely to extend trains on the Airedale line another 18 miles from Skipton to Burnley.

This much diluted aspiration should be seen in the context that trains from Burnley via Hebden Bridge to Leeds take 69 minutes eastbound, 65 westbound, the difference being known in railway terms as recovery time.

Given that trains between Skipton and Leeds (26 miles) take an average of 42 minutes, or 33-40 minutes for limited-stop trains, and assuming 32 minutes for the 18 miles to Burnley which would include five or six stops, then as far as Leeds is concerned, there is no advantage against the Hebden Bridge route. Conversely Bradford would be 25 minutes slower via Skipton.

Mr Cutter of Skipton Building Society is in favour of the reopening.

I wonder if he has:

(a) canvassed how many employees of the Skipton Building Society site on the Bailey and the HML site at the end of Gargrave Road, might transfer to rail if the Skipton to Colne line were reopened – taking into account that they would have a walk of about 15 minutes at the Skipton end alone – when both sites are scarcely more than a stone’s throw from Skipton bypass;

(b) investigated diversion of some of the frequent double decker buses between Lancashire and Skipton (which rarely achieve an occupancy rate of double figures).

As for biomass trains from Liverpool Docks to Drax, of which there are usually three daily per direction, the other four more direct trans-Pennine routes are not “jammed solid with trains already” (as Ms. Wood puts it).

Some (but not all) eastbound trains do indeed follow a circuitous and hence time-consuming route around Manchester, but this is primarily dictated by railway topography, in particular the 1 in 48 gradient east of Manchester Victoria, the seventh steepest stretch of railway in Britain, up which a locomotive could not lift a trailing load of 2200 tons. Even so, eastbound trains do not take 9 hours; generally it is between 5 and 6 for the distance (direct) of about 105 miles, not 90 as Mr. Koss, Chief Executive of Drax, says. Moreover when running overnight via Manchester Piccadilly they take less.

Far from having no capacity, most of the Calder Valley trans-Pennine route carries between one and three passenger trains per direction per hour, compared with seven per hour on the Airedale line between Apperley (Bridge) Junction and Leeds.

So even if the Drax argument for reopening the Skipton-Colne line did have merit in the eastbound direction, it does not apply in reverse.

Westbound empty trains proceed unimpeded through Manchester Victoria, and do the journey in 3 to 4 house, a proportion of it winding through Liverpool suburbs, which would apply in either direction whichever route is taken.

I am not against reopening of the line. Those who know me know that I am as pro-rail as they come.

My standpoint is that arguments that have no foundation should not be used to justify disbursing a large amount of public money for very limited benefit, and in the case of Drax no tangible benefit whatever.

If there is £100m available it could be put to much better use in quadrupling the eastbound approach to Manchester Piccadilly and an underpass to avoid junction conflicts.

This would also benefit Mr. Koss’s subsidy-dependent biomass trains.

Robert H Foster

Village desperately needs more help

SIR - For the past four years I have been an elected member of Ingleton parish council and I wish to thank my fellow councillors for their forebearance and hope there will be much interest in the next election as I believe the community needs an active and inclusive Parish Council to reverse the almost catastrophic loss of amenities Ingleton has experienced in recent years.

The village has (probably) lost more amenities than any community of a comparable size in England; if nothing is done what will go next?

I was elected in what I understand was the first contested election for Ingleton parish council in 25 years and I am grateful to the council for the way in which they have adopted many new ideas although there has remained a fundamental difference of opinion that has made for lively debate.

I am not happy with the conduct of the council in the way the village has been allowed to decline while amenities disappear but I do respect the right of the other councillors to their opinion and in particular all councillors deserve credit and respect for their willingness to serve the community.

I hope to create interest in the role of the parish council and encourage the wider community to become actively involved with new candidates offering a real choice, taking full advantage of this opportunity to start and reverse the decline of the village.

It seems to me this could be the last chance to retain what is left for the community, after losing the middle school, two banks, numerous shops, post office and hotels.

All that is left is the Co-op, chemist and GP and in the present climate all must be at risk.

Will the Co-op keep the village store open in an old building when the brand new filling station store opens in June?

The government are threatening the funding of chemists and the NHS is all about consolidation/closure; outlying GP surgeries have closed in recent years around the country while locally Castleberg Hospital appears doomed to imminent closure.

An active and vibrant community is far better placed to fight closure, and even more importantly a practical plan properly implemented to reinvigorate the commercial centre of the village has the potential to bring services back into the village and thereby help prevent further closures.

Success breeds success but it desperately needs someone to take the lead and in my view that must be the Ingleton Parish Council.

Four years ago a fund of £110,000 was announced from Craven District Council to “revitalise the commercial centre of Ingleton” but to date all that has happened is £47,000 spent on the Council’s own car park.

I have found it soul destroying to serve on a council that has failed to address the decline of the village centre and have no wish to continue watching the village decline when we could be doing so much to breathe new life into the village centre. It is clear to me that if Ingleton village centre is to have any future it first needs a new parish council prepared to provide the desperately needed leadership and direction.

It seems to me Ingleton is treated with a certain amount of contempt by the ‘authorities’ as witnessed by the so-called ‘consultation’ on the future of Castleberg Hospital, not even visiting the village that will be badly affected by yet another closure of a crucial local facility.

They are visiting Bentham and Settle but apparently the views of the people of Ingleton, a village with a very high level of deprivation desperately in need of the facilities at Castleberg, are of no interest in the supposed ‘consultation’.

It is my hope the community will grasp this opportunity with a range of individuals prepared to put themselves forward for election to the parish council in order to turn the tide of decline and help give Ingleton a future.

Anthony Macaulay, Burnmoor Crescent, Ingleton

Development is not wanted or needed

SIR - I was appalled to read of the condescending attitude to local residents of Cllr Chris Rose in your paper (‘Reduction in affordable homes agreed’, Craven Herald, March 15).

I am a local resident; I do not require “help to understand this decision”.

I do, however, require my local councillors to have some backbone and oppose unwanted, inappropriate and wholly unsuitable development in Skipton.

The Wyvern “Park” development - an oxymoron if ever there was one - will be built on flood plain, flood plain that for many years has played an important role in soaking up the water channeled through our town by Eller Beck and other rivers; a development so out of town that it will have its own link road to the bypass - so defeating the purpose of that road, a key link in the route to the M6 and Glasgow.

I take issue with the suggestion that a development “will create jobs”. No development can do that; only employers like myself can.

And without this development having the 10Gbps networks it needs, that won’t be the case for my business. Far better we enhance what we have, than throw out the old merely because of inconvenience.

Raphael Cohn, Crag Lane, Bradley

Is there a sensible planning policy?

SIR - So, there will be less affordable homes on offer to those in the community seeking to get on the “housing ladder” as part of the Wyvern Park development?

This fictitious ladder will be running out of rungs at this rate.

Perhaps Cllr Sutcliffe, Chairman of the Planning Committee, or Neville Watson, Planning Manager, could help me, and no doubt others, as to how they end up in this almost comedic farce – except that for many it is not at all funny.

Hamer Boot, of Henry Boot Developments, says “(that) building 40% affordable homes is not viable because of costs associated with the development and that it is supported by the district valuer”.

Are we meant to believe that when the committee sit down to make a decision on the planning application at the very beginning both Henry Boot, the Planning Committee and Neville Watson, the Planning Manager, are fully aware that the 40 per cent affordable homes figure is unachievable?

How come Boots are encouraged to put in a bid for the job with them knowing that “it was not viable because of costs associated with the development and is supported by the district valuer”?

I am aware that part of the problem is the lack of the much heralded Local Plan.

Methinks that there is also a lack of a sensible planning procedure which can be respected and understood by the community.

Perhaps a statement to this newspaper by some or all of the parties involved to clarify these curious machinations?

Tom Clinton, Netherghyll Lane, Cononley

To be or not to be, that is the headline...

SIR - With reference to your front-page headline “New hamlet plan is turned down” on March 15, should that not have been “Hamlet not to be”?

David Thomas, Victoria Street, Sutton-in-Craven

Walking, cycling and educational options

SIR - A rival Yorkshire newspaper, although not as enlightened as the Craven Herald, had a leading article on the announcement of the walking and cycling safety review in which Jesse Norman, the Parlamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, declared that: “We will become a nation of cyclists.”

Elsewhere in the paper, one of its correspondents bemoaned the fact that MPs seldom reply to letters personally and correspondence is passed down the line in the Department.

I have been in correspondence with Jesse Norman on the subject of high-visibility clothing for vulnerable road users. His first reply was full of platitudes but following comments made by him in connection with the Briggs and Allaway campaigns, I wrote a pointed reply back and of course when challenged he passed it to a minion and my last letter on 17 December 2017 after nearly being knocked off a well-lit path for both pedestrians and cyclists (I never heard him approach from behind) has not had a response. I now learn that this is what we are to become a nation of.

Mr Norman is an old Etonian. In a previous letter to the Craven Herald in support of our local MP, Julian Smith, I suggested that to level its playing fields Eton should go back to its roots and educate 70 poor children from the North of England free of charge.

My grandmother and her sisters went to the same school as Emmeline Pankhurst’s daughters and the family, both men and women, were supporters of the Suffrage Movement.

My father and his two brothers were educated at King William’s College on the Isle of Man, a school founded by a Bishop with a vision that boys of all classes from the lowest farm labourer’s son to the gentry should be educated together.

The school went through a bad patch when the gentry felt their sons should not mingle with the farm lads who possibly settled their differences with a punch on the nose rather than a gentlemanly bullet through the heart, who knows? The school now admits girls whom the Headmaster proudly describes as “feisty”.

Tynwald, the Isle of Man Parliament, introduced both universal education and votes for women before Westminster so now Eton, with your long list of Prime Ministers, perhaps the time has come to admit girls and produce your first woman Prime Minister.

All immigrants have to pass a test to prove their Britishness so why not old Etonians? Here is a little one for Etonians currently in Parliament to assess their knowledge of the North and particularly the Northern cradle of the modern Conservative Party.

“A General inspecting troops in Berkshire ordered the parade to put on gas masks. He paused opposite a Lancashire soldier. Pointing to the eyepiece of his respirator, he inquired ‘Soldier, where is your anti-mist?’ ‘Don’t know, Sir’ came the reply ‘Think she’s oop with Uncle Albert in Bury’.” (Adapted with thanks from Lancashire Wit and Humour by Camilla Zajac.)

On a serious note, the Government announced a public consultation as a ‘Call for evidence on ways to make cycling and walking safer’ which closes on 1 June 2018. Details on GOVUK website under consultations for all those who have opinions on road safety.

Gillian Driver, Wharfe View, Grassington

Please help elderly with your donations

SIR - It’s easy to let the items we no longer use gather dust, either forgotten toys stashed up in the attic or clothes pushed to the back of the wardrobe, most of us will have stuff we no longer use.

March 2nd 2018 was National Old Stuff Day, a day to give notice to old stuff and celebrate everything vintage.

This could be done by upcycling an old piece of furniture, asking your relatives about stories that have been passed down through the generations or passing on the items you no longer use.

In light of this, the Age UK shop in 18 Swadford Street, Skipton, is urging people in the local area to have a clear-out and donate their unwanted items to raise funds for the ccharity’s work supporting older people.

We urgently need quality goods such as clothing and accessories, gifts, toys, household items and shoes, all of which are then sold on to be loved again.

The profits raised by Age UK’s shops helps fund the charity’s vital work including our free advice line (open 365 days a year), campaigns, and support for our network of local Age UK partners who provide thousands of essential services in their communities.

Donations can be maximised by signing up to gift aid. That extra money doesn’t cost a penny and helps us raise more valuable funds for people in later life.

Antonia Cutillo, Shop Manager, Age UK shop, 18 Swadford Street, Skipton

Help women identify this terrible disease

SIR - This month is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month – a time when charities come together to raise awareness of a terrible disease which takes the lives of 4,100 women in the UK each year.

Identifying the symptoms of ovarian cancer (stomach pain, bloating, feeling full more quickly, and needing to urinate more frequently) is currently the best way to diagnose the disease but most symptoms present in later stages when cancer has begun to spread.

With your help, we can change this and protect future generations from the devastating effects of ovarian cancer. Launched this month, our campaign, #StolenMoments, aims to raise £1m to help us develop a new screening tool that detects pre-cancerous cells so that they can be removed as early as possible.

Visit www.ovarian.org.uk. Thank you.

Katherine Taylor, Chief Executive of Ovarian Cancer Action