Sir - I am a retired nurse, midwife and health visitor who moved here three years ago to enjoy all the benefits of a clean, healthy environment, warm, welcoming people, good local amenities, an excellent Primary Health Care team and a local community hospital, should I need it.

However, I fear this may be denied me and the rest of North Craven's population if the North Yorkshire & York Primary Care Trust succeeds in closing Castleberg Hospital (albeit, allegedly, for six to nine months) and replacing patient care with the "Hospital at Home" scheme. How can hospital care be provided NOT in hospital? "Hospital at Home" is surely a contradiction in terms.

The trust must realise some patients cannot be cared for in their homes because their home cannot physically accommodate certain equipment needed. A procedure which only takes a short time to perform for a patient in hospital will take a nurse considerably more time, in travelling to the patient, before performing the task.

GPs from Bentham and Settle will probably find that they, too, are spending more time on the road visiting patients.

The aged and terminally ill patients may not wish to be cared for at home, but hope for a bed at Castleberg Hospital, their local hospital. Sadly, they may find themselves 20-30 miles away, with no neighbours, friends or relatives able to visit them. This is not what I would want for myself, my patients or fellow human beings nearing the end of life.

I am grateful to the Craven Herald for publishing questions it asked the NY & YPCT. However, I feel that the trust evaded answering most of these.

Nothing that was said reassured me that the hospital will re-open if and when the repairs are carried out. Bradford, which has two large hospitals, recently built two community hospitals which provide care and services similar to that provided by Castleberg Hospital. Why should the people of North Craven not have the same health care provision enjoyed by the residents of Bradford within easy reach?

I feel that we need an honest commitment from the NY & YPCT in providing a local in-patient facility for the people of North Craven.

Brenda Jackson, Station Road, Giggleswick

... honesty needed ...

Sir - Like most people locally, I am dismayed and amazed at the proposals for Castleberg Hospital. How can "Hospital in the Home" in any way match the superb standards of care that the team at Harden Ward have provided for so many years?

Even with all existing staff redeployed to support the scheme, the amount of travelling involved will mean that patients at home will never have more than a few hours of attention a day, as opposed to the 24-hour care they receive in Harden Ward.

Not only that, but many of the patients admitted to Harden Ward are placed there by local GPs to provide respite for a partner at home, who desperately needs a break.

What does the PCT propose to do about equipment? Is every home to be supplied with bath hoists, physiotherapy equipment, etc?

One would have thought that, with the number of beds having already been drastically reduced, it would be possible to make repairs to one area of the hospital at a time while maintaining the service in the spare wards. If that is not possible then I cannot see the point of running the Hospital at Home scheme for six months before doing the work. If the scheme works, then they could have got on with the repairs straight away and if it doesn't they are condemning patients to an even longer period of sub-standard care.

The trust claims the "evaluation of the pilot scheme may influence future decisions" but having repeatedly asked for, and not had, information about plans for Harden Ward, the residents of the Settle area now feel that decisions have already been made and that this is closure by stealth.

Can we please have a clear, honest and truthful statement from the PCT about the future of this vital local service?

David Blackburne, Tems Side, Giggleswick

... unworkable ...

Sir - I was very concerned to read the article and letters about Castleberg Hospital/Harden Ward, Giggleswick.

I must firstly say that both my mother and mother-in-law had stays in the hospital and the care they received was second to none. Their hospitalisation was necessary and they and the family would not have wished to leave them at home alone on these occasions. The staff are so friendly and caring - the hospital is an excellent facility for this very rural community.

Secondly, I do not see how the Hospital at Home scheme would work. At least in hospital all the facilities are under one roof; nursing, medication, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, etc. Someone calling in now and again during the day does not seem at all practical. If someone elderly needs help, for instance at the toilet, in hospital they need to just press a buzzer; at home, if there is no-one there to help, there will surely be more danger of falls and consequently more admissions to Airedale and Lancaster hospitals.

Thirdly, what about the carbon footprint which seems to be important these days? All carers, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and doctors would be never off the road with a Hospital at Home scheme. We are in such a large rural area, these professional people would/could be travelling anywhere from Bentham/Ingleton in the north of the district to Malham or Long Preston/Hellifield/Wigglesworth in the south. And what about the cost of fuel which is rising rapidly? Where is the sense in this?

With a rapidly ageing population, this hospital is very important to this community and, in fact, Airedale Hospital transfers patients living in the Keighley area to Castleberg Hospital sometimes.

I urge the powers that be to think seriously. Please do not instigate a Hospital at Home scheme or even think about closing Castleberg Hospital.

Mrs Helen Reid, Scar View, Settle

... stealthy closure ...

Sir - We refer to the feature and letters from doctors both present and retired at the Settle and Bentham practices (Craven Herald, March 14).

My wife and I have lived in Craven for 30 years, 26 of them in Burton-in-Lonsdale plus the last four in Settle.

There are a great many local people who have had cause to bless Castleberg and its staff either as recovering patients or visitors to see them. Travelling to Airedale Hospital is a sore trial from Settle; from Burton or Bentham it is a 70-mile nightmare round trip on inadequate roads.

My wife and I join our local group practice, Townhead Settle, in expressing alarm. This is undoubtably closure by stealth.

The problem stems from the disastrous merger of primary care trusts from which we inherited astronomical debts, which the new PCT now seeks to offload by closure of Castleberg and, if it can get away with it, Skipton Hospital.

We would urge all Craven readers affected by this to write to their MP, David Curry, to make their views known. We trust Settle Town Council will do likewise.

Bob and Pauline Swallow, Townhead Avenue, Settle

... endorsement

Sir - In view of the fact that I was unavailable last week, I wish to fully endorse the two letters sent by the retired and current Settle doctors.

The in-patient service provided by Castleberg Hospital is one of the main features of the excellent medical care provided by North Craven GPs. If the PCT remains committed to a long-term, bed-based solution (stated in answer to the Craven Herald's questions to the PCT), the repair work should start the day that day patients move out. Community care is not appropriate in all cases and the hospital's absence should be kept to a minimum.

John Lewis, retired GP, High Fell Close, Settle

Clean energy

Sir - Of the three "No turbines" letters in the Craven Herald of March 14, I agree with David King that those proposed for Brightenber Hill (126m high, Mr King, not 300m) would significantly impact the rural landscape.

Only one of the objectors suggests an alternative to meeting our ever increasing energy demands.

After 30 years of technological improvement, wind turbines offer an effective, sustainable source of clean energy. Every kW hour of wind power fed into the grid saves a kW hour generated from fossil fuel, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of imported fuel.

Wind turbine output increases disproportionately with height and rotor diameter. Halving the height would mean that 40-50 would be needed to produce the same output as 11 being considered.

The effect on property values is not peculiar to wind farms. Any major development would have the same effect, possibly worse. It could be argued that lower property prices could benefit new home buyers not averse to seeing a few turbine blades from their kitchen windows A multitude of small, domestic wind turbines and solar panels would have a wider visual impact than the present proposal while giving a fraction of the benefit.

In Malhamdale, with the support of the National Park Authority, we have carried out a survey of energy usage and local attitudes while a study with CAT, the Centre for Alternative Technology, has identified technologies that can satisfy local energy demands within planning constraints. In co-operation with the National Park, we hope to develop a strategy to obtain the most from local resources without compromising the landscape. The priority is to reduce demand.

Then community-owned, renewable energy projects, with better funding opportunities and advantages of scale, will bring more benefit to the community than individual domestic retro-fits.

A similar approach would give all residents an equal say in formulating energy policy and could be effective in retaining Craven's unique rural landscape.

Sandy Tod, West Barn, Friars Garth, Malham

Thanks for caring

Sir - I would like to apologise to Sutton Parish Councillors for only mentioning the Snaygill carers (Letters, March 7) and not including the carers of people with Alzheimers and those with other kinds of disabilities, who attend the Carers Resource meetings at Sutton Pavilion when it is open.

My letter to the Craven Herald was pertaining to the lack of resources for them from North Yorkshire County Council. The point being made was North Yorkshire's intention of not providing a base for Snaygill clients, but to give extra resources to support and encourage a move towards getting all the clients out into the community. Which provokes the question, where to? And who will end up funding it?

I do hope that Sutton Parish Council will use their initiative and apply for so-called North Yorkshire extra resources' to fund the opening of the pavilion during the winter months for the carers to meet, and also for visits by the clients.

I would also like to thank the parish council for making the point so eloquently (Letters, March 14) that they are not willing to lay out ratepayers' money either.

The comment made by the council on the carers' resource attendees being happy with the situation depends on your interpretation of the word happy'; perhaps they mean they have no choice.' For an interpretation of the words no choice', refer to North Yorkshire County Council! Particularly their reasons for not giving the clients of the Snaygill day centre an alternative base.

Many thanks go to the Black Bull pub, Sutton, for taking the carers' group in during the winter months.

It is nice to know someone cares.

A Duggan, Holmroyd Avenue, Crosshills

Schools debate

Sir - In reply to Mrs H Jones (Letters, March 14), I would like North Yorkshire County Council to explain to the parents why it thinks its socially exclusive, unfair schools admissions arrangements are justified.

The executive councillor concerned and former MP of this town said in July that the issue was "very significant, very serious and very important", yet nothing is changing. A full public consultation is the least the parents should expect.

There is no need to build new schools as there is plenty of space at the two grammar schools, with over half the places going to out-of-catchment children.

And parents cannot simply opt out and go to South Craven as one parent in Skipton has found out - their child is over 60th on the South Craven waiting list, having put it down as first choice.

Coupled with fuss in the press about access to Ilkley Grammar, Addingham is now closer than Eastby to South Craven and would be ahead in any queue.

I am pleased Mrs Jones's daughter had a successful education in Skipton, but I am not sure what Mrs Jones meant by her last point.

Does she mean that the 11+ results were all wrong when her daughters sat the test and the wrong children were selected - which doesn't sound like much has changed.

Or is she saying that the school her daughter went to had no bearing on what she achieved. If it's the latter, what was the point of selecting in the first place?

Graeme Hitchen, High Bank, Bradley

Islam awareness

Sir - I am writing in response to Mrs Kathleen Kinder's letter (Letters, March 7) regarding our Islam Awareness event at Victoria Hall, Settle, on Saturday February 24.

We felt it necessary to respond as there were some points that were unjustified and, quite frankly, some were incorrect.

Firstly, the purpose of the event was not a "tit-for-tat" debate between Islam and Christianity, nor was the occasion for Muslims and Christians to have a deep theological debate and pinpoint extreme cases of each other's history.

Also, there are numerous events that exist to serve Muslim-Christian dialogue and, from having attended a few, it's quite plain to see there is little benefit in them apart from "point-scoring" for both sides.

Val Potter, her friends and the Mayor of Settle invited us for the purpose of building bridges between our communities. The purpose of having "Islamic content" was to represent Islam in its true light due to the heightening of Islamophobia in society, due partly to a lack of our communities working together.

We read a few extreme cases in the press and this provides a judgement for non-Muslims to fear any young Muslim man with a beard or Muslim woman wearing a head scarf, and the Muslims likewise feel little need to explain their faith as they feel the case has already been judged against them.

In relation to Mrs Kinder's statement about Hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)); firstly, the Quran is the Holy scripture and not the Hadith and the Quran is the scripture that has been preserved both in written form and through memorisation since the lifetime of the Prophet (PBUH); it has not been changed since its original revelation.

Secondly, the Hadiths are categorised in terms of authenticity and there are six core compilations of Hadith that are unanimously accepted as being attributed to the Prophet (PBUH) and, admittedly, there are numerous others that are falsely attributed to the Prophet (PBUH) and these are not accepted by the majority of mainstream Muslims.

Finally, we do not claim to be experts of the Christian faith and apologise if we said anything that was incorrect. And we will, God-willing, organise some leisure activities with Val Potter in the near future.

We would also like to visit Mrs Kinder's church. However, concerning her offer of a visit there, why does she assume that we will not like to attend due to one of the previous vicars in its history taking part in the Crusades? We need to focus our energy on the many things that we have in common and not on our divisions.

Quaddir Choudary, Secretary, Skipton Islamic Society, c/o Craven Voluntary Action, 33 Coach Street, Skipton

Recycling bins

Sir - Re your report, "Villager calls for recycling facilities" (Craven Herald, February 29).

Three minutes walk from where the complainant lives there are three recycling bins in the Bay Horse Inn car park for glass, tins and paper.

Quite a few years ago, I applied to Sutton-in-Craven Parish Council for bins; these were placed in Bridge Road by Sutton Mills.

After the mills were demolished and housing built, residents complained. The bins were removed then placed at the Bay Horse, courtesy of the licencees, and are emptied regularly.

There was a waste paper bin at the Parish Hall; again residents complained and it was removed. Older parts of Sutton village have no bus service, no letter box, noticeboard or pavements and cars are parked on corners and road junctions. Our only amenity is the bins. Some residents have up to a quarter of a mile to bring their bins for collection as the access is not suitable for heavy goods vehicles.

Our High Street would win first prize for patchwork Tarmacadam, even beating the Main Street in Cross Hills.

D Riley, Raspberry Place, West Lane, Sutton-in-Craven

Undemocratic ... 1

Sir - I went to vote for the first time in the Barnoldswick Town Council election. This is an event which should mark a young person's entry into full citizenship far better than any silly oath to the Queen.

Yet, unlike the glitz of the proposed ceremonies, it was hardly an edifying occasion.

The town council had decided not to bother sending out polling cards. Neither of the candidates had delivered a single leaflet or poster, let alone knocked on the door (not to my house, at any rate). It is hardly surprising that when I went to vote at around 4.30pm, the electoral rolls showed that only a handful of people had taken up their democratic right.

Now, with all due respect to the many town councillors who do a very good job, let's not kid ourselves that they're going to make much difference to our lives.

As far as I can ascertain, their responsibilities go little further than reporting potholes to the county and borough council, passing planning applications and arranging the erection of a few Christmas lights. These things are important for the community and I am very grateful that there is someone to do them, but it's not exactly like the running of the NHS and our school system.

The most important thing about town councillors is that they represent our democracy in its most basic form.

The promotion and protection of this democracy is surely the most important responsibility our councillors have. But Barnoldswick Town Council decided that it was not worth sending out polling cards and letting people know that an election was being held, as the £1,200 cost apparently would be too much.

It is hugely ironic that this body can spend £40,000 on some fireworks to celebrate the foiling of a plot designed to overthrow our democracy 400 years ago, yet cannot find £1,200 to spend on protecting democracy today.

I hope Barnoldswick Town Council will hang their heads in shame. If my experience is anything to go by, the future of my voting life is not going to be all it's cracked up to be.

James Januszewski (18), Wellhouse Road, Barnoldswick

Undemocratic ... 2

Sir - By the time your readers are reading this letter, people will have either elected another Liberal Democrat or me as a town councillor for the Coates ward in Barnoldswick.

Either way, democracy will have prevailed, but not entirely as it should have done, referring to your article, "Polling cards not issued to save cash" (Craven Herald, March 7).

I would just like to clarify the comments made by Coun David Whipp: "The town council did not make the decision about polling cards". What utter rubbish. I was present at the town meeting where the ruling party voted not to send out the polling cards.

To further validate my side of the story, I contacted Pendle Borough Council elections department and a spokeswoman said she did not understand why Barnoldswick Town Council had decided not to send them out, as confirmed by a statement made to your paper by a Pendle Borough Council spokeswoman.

David Whipp also states that a new member of the town council could have been co-opted without the £5,000 expense of an election. With David Whipp being a member of the ruling party on the town council (ten Liberals to three Independents at this moment), let's guess who would have been co-opted on, me, the Independent candidate or the Liberal Democrat candidate?

Also, while we are on this issue, if David Whipp is really so concerned about the cost of this by-election, why did he not withdraw the Liberal candidate?

Furthermore, if he does not want to pay for democracy, we could co-opt borough councillors onto borough, county councillors onto county and MPs into parliament; that way we could save lots of money by not having democratic elections. I think David Whipp should look up the word democracy in a dictionary; it might give him an idea as to how our free country works.

Glenn Whittaker, Park Street, Barnoldswick

Shameful omission

Sir - The resignation of Andrew Wheatstone as chairman of Lothersdale Parish Council has gone unreported in your columns and received only the briefest of mentions at the council's meeting last week.

It is shameful that not one of his former councillor colleagues has made any reference to him.

Although Mr Wheatstone and I had major differences and arguments and, at one stage resorted to lawyers to resolve our respective positions, I do not think it is right that his contribution to the village's life should be ignored.

He and I worked together on preparing the Lothersdale Parish Plan and it is a tribute to that collaboration that so many of the action points produced by the working group that he chaired are now in being in our small community.

He was an effective councillor and always had the interests of the village at heart. Even though he may now no longer live here, his work should be acknowledged. He was a good servant of the community and was prepared to devote time to resolving many issues for the benefit of residents.

He may have been wrong at times and spent money unwisely in my view, but he acted on his own beliefs and he deserves thanks for his public service.

Stephen Cohen, Former Parish Clerk, Dale End, Lothersdale

Down the pub

Sir - I read with interest the article by John Sheard (Craven Herald, March 7) about pubs disappearing.

He made mention of the fact that Glusburn "once had three public houses but now only has one". In fact, Glusburn has not had a public house in the village for almost 130 years - that was the Red Lion Inn which closed its doors on May 1 1890 - and is still dry' to this day. The site was then developed by the erection of a Temperance Hotel, complete with reading room, by Sir John Horsfall. He felt it quite wrong to have built a Sunday School, as he had planned for the village, in the vicinity of a public house.

The Temperance Hotel was later to close, becoming for many years the village post office and shop, but is now converted to flats.

The parish' of Glusburn does have a public house open and doing fine, or it always seems to be when I have been in, but this is in Cross Hills - The Old White Bear. The oft-made mistake of including The Dog and Gun at Malsis in Glusburn's public houses is quite wrong. It is in Sutton-in-Craven.

Thanks John, keep writing the good reads - they always provoke some interest!

Peter Whitaker, Baxterwood, Cross Hills

Awards praise

Sir - I wish to thank all concerned in making the Young Achievers Awards Ceremony, which I had the great privilege of attending, the huge success it was.

I am almost at the end of my first year as a town councillor and can only say what a huge privilege it has been to be involved in so many positive issues which makes Skipton the exceptional place it is. Having lived here all my life, looking back on the past and now looking at today and a positive future gives me great joy to be part of it.

My fellow councillors, Dave Parker and the superb office staff and, of course, not forgetting Kevin, our super town crier, all goes to make life interesting and ever enjoyable.

Many thanks to all who elected me. May I continue to give of my best in representing you.

Coun Hazel Bulcock, Devonshire Mews, Skipton.

Splendid tribute

Sir - It was a splendid tribute to Claire Brooks in last week's Craven Herald (March 14). I should like to add to the list of achievements of Claire and her sister, Beth, the saving from closure of the Settle-Carlisle line. Of great importance to the local people, this was a huge task but, as always, they took up the challenge and won.

Margaret Graham, Bankwell Road, Giggleswick

10:07am Friday 21st March 2008

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