10:30am Saturday 16th January 2010
Sir - The lack of action to put up temporary barriers at Niffany Corner in Skipton is without doubt a sign of the times we live in. This is a very dangerous corner and a miscalculation by any driver will sadly lead to further fatalities.
The response from the petty bureaucrats of North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) – a feasibility study presumably carried out by a committee, which will no doubt come to a conclusion that is as obvious as the noses on their faces – a crash barrier is required!
A temporary, motorway-style concrete crash barrier could be put in place within 24 hours if required. In fact, it would not be a surprise if a few are not stacked somewhere in an NYCC highways yard right now.
All that is required is for one person to take responsibility and say “let’s do it” and it would be done. One death is a tragedy, three deaths are unforgivable and a fourth would be criminal.
What is the point of electing representatives when even the bleeding obvious seems beyond their ability to deliver. Will some councillor stand up and please show some leadership.
Rollo Thompson, West Bank Road, Skipton
Sir - Further to the article in the Craven Herald about Craven councillors voting for an increase in allowances, I am moved to contact yourselves as the increase that council leader Chris Knowles-Fitton has awarded himself is shocking in the current economic climate.
Recently, a number of Craven District Council employees were sent letters informing them that their posts were “to be deleted”. In addition to this, the council has now, in effect, reduced the pay of some staff by changing their policy of paying professional fees, despite their membership being an “essential criteria” to them fulfilling their post.
Of course, this hasn’t affected all staff – some more highly-paid executive members of staff have not been affected by this new policy.
In addition, some officers have also had their “essential car user” status removed, resulting in them no longer receiving a monthly lump sum and therefore a further reduction in salary.
While I appreciate that Craven District Council is in economic crisis, I find it shocking that councillors are awarding themselves additional money at a time when they have presumably sanctioned these reductions to the hard-working officers serving them and the community.
Name and address withheld
Sir - Among many challenges we face in 2010, one of the biggest is unemployment. A thousand people a day were being made redundant by the end of 2009. One in five young people was out of work.
I have seen the impact of this jobs crisis locally – students graduating without work now back home with parents; businesses struggling to stay afloat and at the same time trying to avoid laying off staff; men and women later in their careers losing their jobs and concerned about their prospects for re-employment.
As a small business owner, over the past year I have experienced first-hand the tension between trying to stay in profit whilst desperately wanting to preserve jobs for loyal staff. Many small businesses in our area have had similar pressures in the past 18 months – a small business is often defined by its staff and no business owner wants to lose them. The energy and success of our constituency’s small business owners is vital to the economic prospects of our area.
2010 is a crucial year for our country as the choice we make in our next government will be vital to getting Britain working again. Whilst I will be working flat out to persuade your readers to vote for my party later this year, I will be spending much of January and February focusing on what immediate things I and others in local politics and business can do to re-ignite job opportunities and help those who are currently without a job.
Julian Smith, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Skipton and Ripon, Otley Street, Skipton
Sir - I was very interested to see the cunning method employed by a supermarket to subsidise the Royal Mail in their hour of need (at our expense of course).
When I was asked to pay £1.17p for the delivery of a Christmas card, I checked the size of the envelope and found that one dimension was just 1¼ inches over the maximum size of a “letter” and was classed as a “large letter”, which costs more. The £1.17p is made up of 17p under-payment and £1 “handling charge”. The card, in support of several charities, was “designed exclusively for Tesco Stores Ltd.” Every little helps!
A Nixon, Brackenfield, Threshfield
Sir - I had cause to shop in a large store in Skipton on Saturday January 2 and was angered to find that this store, that makes loud claims for its community involvement and charity work, should be selling Easter-related items (ie hot cross buns and Easter eggs) before the Christmas season was even over. It should show more respect for the largely Christian population which it serves by refraining from retailing such products until the appropriate time of year.
Janet Sturgess, Eshton Road, Gargrave
Sir - To assist those playing “spot the gritter”, I can report that, on Tuesday January 5, as I walked through the town hall car park at 10.30am, there was a gritter and plough, supported by a quad bike, actively clearing the parking spaces. What I am still in doubt about is how cars were expected to make it to the car park when only the arterial roads had been gritted. Yours in bewilderment.
Bob Wright, The Wright Wine Company, Raikes Road, Skipton
Sir - Men and women of Lancashire and Yorkshire have been coping with bad weather for centuries, but we still have the stupid minority who don’t see they should allow themselves an extra 10 minutes to make their journey in bad weather, nor should clean snow and ice off their vehicle before attempting to drive – other than what might be removed with their frozen windscreen wipers!
I believe we all have access to a broom or brush to clear the snow off our vehicle and the common-sense to know why we should do it. Just because your vehicle might look like a Land Rover doesn’t mean it will handle snowy conditions like one. Also, we must be able to see other road users. The potential for the snow on the car bonnet or roof blowing onto our windscreen or somebody else’s constitutes an offence under the “due care and attention” law. It certainly does under the “duty of care to others” one.
Given that we all see on the news about how the nation south of Watford can’t cope with the winter conditions, shouldn’t we show that we, north of Watford, can?
Paul Emsley, Newton Way, Hellifield
Sir - Whether people believe in the effects of climate change or not, it would seem sensible for the county council to develop a well-publicised emergency plan to provide a better response to extreme weather. It would also seem sensible for county, borough, district, parish and town councils to co-operate so there is full knowledge across the different bodies of how to respond.
In Darley, where I live, I know of many local homeowners who have not been able to get their car out for three weeks, as their roads are low priority and have turned to sheet ice through continuous sub-zero temperatures. Clearly, it is a difficult task to ensure all roads are cleared. But greater provision of bins at the end of residential roads and on steep hills throughout the Dales could at least guarantee local people can look after their own areas and make them safe.
Having experienced in recent years unusual levels of flooding on the Nidd, Ure, and Wharfe, it makes sense that any such emergency plan takes into consideration all types of extreme weather. Local residents should then be able to access the plan easily so they know what resources are available, where they are and have emergency contact numbers to hand.
Hopefully the end will be in sight soon for this spell of extreme weather and we can all get back to normal. But who knows when the next spell of freak weather will arrive?
Helen Flynn, Lib Dem Prospective MP for Skipton and Ripon, Low Lane, Darley
Sir - Re your front page story (“We’ve got loads of grit!”), they would have, wouldn’t they? It isn’t on the roads!
Lee Hall, Town End Close, Cross Hills
Sir – On behalf of Candlelighters fighting children’s cancer and leukaemia at St James’s Hospital, may I convey a most sincere thank you to all who kindly contributed to my annual Christmas collection round of local pubs, clubs and hostelries which amounted to a splendid total of £2,095.99.
Also, special thanks once more to all the managers and mine-hosts for allowing me onto their premises with the bucket, indeed some of them – true to form – extended their welcomes with offers of food and drink and, likewise, many revellers besides. Details of all fundraising efforts and how the money is spent in terms of medical science and research, treatment and remedial care can be found in the quarterly Candlelighters magazine for which I have back numbers should anyone be interested. Meanwhile, thanks once again all you wonderful folk!
Roger Ingham, Aldersley Avenue, Skipton
Sir - We support Mr Alan Perrow (Letters, January 7) in his proposal for an elected mayor and nominate him as an excellent candidate for the post.
JR Jones and Mrs ME Jones, Kirk Lane, Eastby
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