Tony Young makes very important points about the impact of the closure of Skipton High Street on bus services in his letter to you (Craven Herald, August 13). All the areas of town affected by loss of bus services are in the North Ward which I represent on Skipton Town Council. I share his concerns which have been raised by residents with the Council. The problem we have is that the only north/south route through Skipton is via the High Street.

I am a member of the Town Council Emergency Committee which has operated during the coronavirus period and so have been a party to the decision to close the High Street to traffic on 3 market days as the only way to enable the reopening of our market with appropriate social distancing. We have agreed to extend this to 31 October. This has worked really well on the High Street and the town has been buzzing in recent weeks, thanks to great cooperation between the Town Council, Craven Council and North Yorkshire County Council and thanks to the efforts of our great Town Council staff.

However, it causes the issues raised by Mr Young. I understand discussions have been happening to seek a solution but I would really welcome any ideas from your readers to find "an equitable solution" as Mr Young describes it. We cannot, in my view, consider making the High Street closure permanent until we come up with such a solution.

John Dawson

Skipton Town Councillor

North Ward

Gainsborough Court

Skipton