SIR - On December 14 last year I wrote a letter to the Craven Herald, complaining about the drastic cuts in the special needs education budget that North Yorkshire County Council was proposing to make and at the same time spend £380,000 on a cycle race. The council leader stated in a piece in the Craven Herald that the race would bring £98 million into the Yorkshire economy and it was also a feel good factor. It would certainly not be a feel good factor to the parents and children needing this support to ensure they receive an education which will enable them to have normal lives and be a part of our community.

Now we have Craven District Council proposing to put aside £180,000 for the same cycle race. As NYCC said when giving their donation - 'the race brought £98 million into the Yorkshire economy'- so Craven District Council are saying the same. Why are not some of these millions being used to fund the event rather than councils using Council Tax payer’s money taken from other front line services. It appears that this money will come out of “The New Homes Bonus” given by central government to encourage councils to build as many homes as possible to maximise their bonus income. This so called 'bonus money' should be spent where the greatest need is such as starter homes to rent or shared ownership .

All the monies that the councils spend on the cycle race advertise nationally what a nice place Craven is to live. This feeds into the hands of housing developers , hence the huge numbers of new housing developments taking place in Craven which will swamp the infrastructure. Every week in the Craven Herald we can see all the problems and objections to the many housing applications by developers, much of this is self inflicted by the councils by spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on the cycle race all of which helps to advertise Craven as a nice place to live. Another few years of this and our pleasant district will be lost forever under many more huge housing developments. Craven District Council must be rubbing its hands with glee knowing that it will receive hundreds of thousands of pounds in “New Homes Bonus” from the government which they can spend on prestige projects for its leadership.

Roger Nicholson.

Park Drive

Sutton in Craven