10:00am Saturday 31st July 2010
Sir - I am following with interest the campaign to save Skipton law courts and found the article in last week’s Herald by Keith Blackwell to be well argued.
I fully support his suggestion that the Skipton and Keighley/Bingley courts should merge, rather than close both. However, I think the argument is already lost.
In 2002 there was a review of all court buildings, probably a front for closing courts, and a meeting was held in Skipton Magistrates court. I attended the meeting and spoke. After declaring my interest as a magistrate sitting on the Keighley bench but speaking as a resident of Craven, I argued that rather than closing Skipton court and sending the work to Harrogate it should merge with Keighley.
I used the arguments that historically the connections, both political and transport, lay down the Aire valley and not across Blubberhouses Moor.
The court official advising the Advisory Group made the point that the then relatively new Harrogate court was under-used and that it would be more efficient to increase its utilisation and save costs in North Yorkshire. He admitted that he had neglected to inform the Advisory Committee that cross-border merger was permissible.
My proposal received a less-than-warm reception from the chairman of the Skipton bench. The outcome of the consultation was that one of the two courts then sitting in Skipton closed and the work was moved to Harrogate.
The Skipton County Court, which had previously occupied the old magistrates court building, moved into the freed-up space. Since that date the administration of courts in North and West Yorkshire have merged.
Keighley Magistrates Court, which has sat entirely in Bingley since May, 2000, survived the review intact and continued to provide the full range of services such as adult crime, youth crime, private prosecutions, family and licensing, until West Yorkshire Police made the new Keighley police station its Bradford North Division headquarters.
At that point all Bradford North crime came to Keighley and the increase in work meant that all private prosecution work went to Bradford and some other work went to Halifax. In effect Keighley ceased to be a fully formed, fully operating court in its own right but an adjunct to Bradford. It dealt with Bradford cases and other courts dealt with Keighley cases.
I believe that the argument to form a Keighley & Craven Court is as valid now as it was in 2002. However, I believe that the decision taken then to close one Skipton court and move the work to Harrogate has created a precedent that will give the government the excuse to close Skipton court and move the work to Harrogate. The more recent decisions relating to Keighley court also make it much easier to suggest that Keighley is already only a satellite of Bradford court and can be closed and the work transferred to Bradford. If the government believe that local justice is important then we will get a Keighley and Craven Court. Being a realist I expect both courts to close and the slow death of local justice will continue unabated.
I should add that I resigned from the bench on December 31 2009 as I was unhappy about the way things were going in the criminal justice system. If I had not resigned then I certainly would now.
Harold Mathers Hall Croft House, Kildwick
Sir – Both you and others in Skipton feel that you have problems concerning the possible closure of the magistrates and crown courts.
You should feel even sadder for Selby.
Two years ago £800,000 was spent on modernising the disabled facilities. Now they are on the list too.
Michael Swan, East Causeway Crescent, Leeds
Sir - Would someone in authority at Craven District Council please explain in precise detail why, if the existing council offices can be made fit for £700,000, are the ratepayers of Craven being made to pay £3,500,000 for new office premises in a building totally inappropriate for the purpose and with woefully inadequate parking arrangements?
Stephen Lodge, Linton
Sir - Settle Middle School would like to say many thanks to all the people that gave a donation to the Year 7 Girls Rugby team.
They were outside the Settle Cooperative doing a bucket collection to raise funds for their Champion Schools Rugby League National Finals trip and collected just over £300.
Special thanks must go to a gentleman, from Hampshire, who was on holiday and gave £120.
He said I hope this can help, and please let me know how the girls do, he gave his address and left.
The girls could not believe it, but are determined to send him a winner’s team photograph to show him their thanks.
Thanks must be given to the following businesses for their support by either donations, or prizes to be raffled: Best Tyres of Hellifield, Craven Arms, Settle, Harts Head, Giggleswick, Goad and Butcher Solicitors, Derek Jordan Solicitors, Elizabeth Bland Homemaker and Brenda Dobek, England Rugby League Ladies Coach.
The girls would also like to thank their parents, families and friends for their help in fund raising activities that have all helped to raise £1,500 to date.
The fundraising has given the team a great sense of team work and determination to do well in the final, which has been shown in their excellent commitment to training and the fund raising activities.
Mark Glover Head of PE, Settle Middle School
Sir - Last week, Mr Moorhouse asked the question: Where have all the swans gone?
Well, here are parents who are doing their best to increase the population.
This well-ordered family with nine young was snapped in early June, on the canal, just south of Skipton.
Last week they were spotted again, swimming past Merritt & Fryers wood-yard.
There were still nine signets but now they were bigger and in their darker plumage.
Lets hope that they survive.
W Wills Burnside House, Carleton Road, Skipton
Sir - Re A Craven Diary (July 22). Vera Chandler and Brian Hirst omitted to mention, or didn’t know, that the giant Hogweed can cause horrific skin blistering and blindness.
For this reason it is mentioned in the Countryside and Wildlife Act 1987. No one should go near one if they find one, it is illegal to allow or cause its spread, but it is equally dangerous to try to cut it down. Professional advice should be sought.
It is such a nasty plant that rock band Genesis wrote a song about it – Return of the Giant Hogweeed.
As I just tried to purchase a pack of mothballs and was told that their sale is now prohibited as they are allegedly dangerous, I thought I would jump on the health and safety bandwagon and point this out.
C Stringer, Wighill Street, Sutton-in-Craven
Sir - The first reaction of a beleaguered organisation is to shoot any messenger bringing it bad news.
The first reaction of Craven District Council to the e-mails published on the web was to report the matter to the police and call in yet more consultants (at goodness knows what cost) to provide the ammunition for such a shooting.
As several councillors have pointed out, it would be preferable to look into the contents of the e-mails rather than pillory the person responsible for their publication.
As shown in your editorial of July 22, the list of the Council’s questionable and secret actions continues to grow, serving to confirm the necessity for the independent inquiry advocated by you some time ago.
The time must surely now have come for those councillors who are as disgusted as is the general public with the back-stairs style of governance carried on in their name (and, it seems, often without their knowledge), to put aside party loyalties and invite the Audit Commission to carry out a full and open investigation The public has had enough of minutes that remain confidential, of the ignoring of government advice to enable at least one asset to be sold at a ludicrously low price, of unrecorded loans, of secret negotiations with departing staff and of planning decisions that flout the Council’s own planning regulations.
In the public interest it is surely time to say enough is enough.
John Weatherill Heronwood, Flasby
Sir - Animal Aid would like to thank the people of Skipton for their generosity in raising £275 at a street collection on Saturday, July 10, 2010.
The money will help fund our peaceful campaigns and our important educational work on all aspects of animal cruelty.
For more information on how to prevent animal cruelty then please call Animal Aid on (01732) 364546.
Angela Courtney, Animal Aid Collection Co-ordinator
I am a cyclist, pedestrian, and car driver in the Skipton area, and am respectful of all road users.
I was disgusted to be cycling up the High Street, at 5.30pm, to be asked if I knew how to use a road? I was cycling along, and there was a van alongside the setts, watering the plants on the street.
I was shocked when it pulled into the middle of the road, with no indication, or anything.
I asked him what he thought he was doing, as I pulled on my brakes to stop instantly, minding the cars that were piling up behind me. He said ‘Dont you know how to use the road?’ Well, I was cycling on the left, as near to the edge as I could so as not to get in the way of drivers, and was wearing a brightly-coloured jacket so I could be seen.
What else was I meant to do? I asked if he saw me, and he ignored me, and repeated his question of ‘Don’t you know how to use the road?’ I would like to return that question to him.
I was shocked, and amazed at his lack of remorse.
We are told to be environmentally conscious, and ‘green’ so I try to leave the car at home as much as possible. I won’t be cycling up the High Street again for a while – thanks.
Lucy Poulter Skipton Road, Embsay
Sir - Congratulations for putting such a lovely photograph on the front of the Craven Herald & Pioneer last week (July 22). The two children are adorable.
I am going to frame it and hang it in my home. They will make me smile every time I look at it.
If I listen very carefully I can hear Harriet giggle!
Congratulations to the head teacher for coming up with such a wonderful idea. What a change to all the doom and gloom. Thank you for making my day!
Sarah E Woof Laning, Dent
Congratulations to the Craven Herald for upholding the honoured journalistic “man bites dog” tradition.
Irrespective of the contents of the piece, the headline “Drunk doctor bit police officer after car crash” alone was worth my 75p.
More, Craven Herald, more!
Paul Underhill Settle Road, Airton
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