MAY I say thank you and well done to all involved in Settle Christmas lights switch-on?
So many people braved the wind and lashing rain to put up the lights in the run-up to the day and, then on the day, from early morning, volunteers were setting up the stage area, stalls, Santa’s Grotto and getting drenched, but it was a credit to all.
In the afternoon, the crowds came out and the rain stopped for about an hour or so, just in time for the switch-on and the fireworks. Then the rain came again.
Thank you one and all. It all looks good. Your efforts weren’t in vain.
HELEN REID,
Scar View, Settle.

IN AN article published in last week’s Craven Herald – MP backs £178 billion plan for military – Julian Smith spoke in glowing terms about the recent Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Rather than it being “a comprehensive plan backing the armed forces... etc”, the SDSR simply builds on the debacle of the previous review. Yes, it fills one or two of the gaping holes left by that previous idiocy but it compounds the damage done to our defence.
I will let others criticise other aspects of the SDSR and simply speak to the further damage it will do to our Armed Forces.
First, the Navy was hoping for an increase of 2,000 men and women to man upcoming commissions. Instead, they were given leave to increase their manpower by 400. So, whilst they will be asked to man and service close to 100 F35 aircraft and several new ships (including two new capital ships), they will have to do so mostly from the existing establishment. Yes, they will find some from decommissioning HMS Ocean (and what stupidity losing that ship is) and one or two others, but they will be hard-pressed to adequately man the new vessels or aircraft. Similarly with the RAF, 300 extra men to get the extra aircraft in the air ameliorated in part only by the disbanding or re-roling of our Tornado squadrons.
The prize for military ineptitude, though, goes to whoever presided over the further changes to the army. First, the government would have the army form two ‘rapid reaction’ brigades of 10,000 men. This is half of our regular establishment (given that we will be forming the brigades from existing servicemen and women). These will necessarily be light troops given that in the field they will be existing on the food, ammunition and other stores they take with them. All very well if they are sent into a short operation (which is the role envisioned for them), but what happens if there is another land war in Europe (not beyond the possibilities given Putin’s games in the Ukraine)? We will then have the remains of a mechanised division to defend our interests until we can get our reserves into the field.
The above, however, pales into significance when it comes to the pie-in-the-sky of increasing our numbers of Special Forces (SF). Now, the SF (in this case the SAS and SBS) recruits from the rest of the army. Increasing SF numbers necessarily means denuding our regular units of the brightest and best of their young soldiers. Worse, those units will not be able to recruit new soldiers because the overall army numbers are not set to increase at all.
The loss will be exacerbated by the inability of both regular and reserve forces to recruit.
In closing, I would like to refute the straw man this government has thrown into the works. Our economy has nothing to do with the security of the UK.
We have had a far greater armed forces in times of recession than we have had in the past five years. It is a fantasy of the present Tory party to imagine the abilities of our servicemen and women depends on a strong economy.
STEPHEN WALPOLE,
Clifford Court, Skipton.

AS MORE details of the budget appear, I begin to feel somewhat sorry for our Conservative council leaders.
They are facing another round of really difficult decisions. Council care budgets can only be maintained if they put up rates by two per cent to cover the cost. So, the Chancellor avoided tax rises but asked local councillors to make them instead.
Even if they do raise the rates, they still face the problem of static care budgets in real terms whilst the number of elderly people rises. The budget means more elderly people will be left alone and isolated waiting for an occasional rushed visit.
When someone needs to enter a care home, the situation will be even harder. Several private owners are deciding that the rates paid by the council are so low that with minimum wage rising, their best option is to close the care home and sell off the property whilst prices are high.
Once again, this will put pressure on councils as, eventually, a scarcity of care homes will force them to start paying out more for each place. Fewer elderly people will be able to be helped with the static cash whilst there are more needing that help every year.
In case you are thinking that at least the situation is better for police budgets then, once again, I suggest a pause for more careful analysis. Mr Osborne told us their budget wouldn’t be cut. In fact, it goes down in real terms for five years unless inflation is zero, and part of the cash comes from police commissioners being asked to put your rates up to cover the cost.
Once again, a Conservative local representative has been given a difficult choice by her own party. Either raise taxes or explain why a service is being cut when we were all told that it was being protected.
So, before you celebrate the budget too much, just remember. There will still be cuts to services most people value and your local representatives will either be increasing your rates or making even greater cuts.
ANDY BROWN,
Green Party,
Main Street, Cononley.

IN her letter – Create a fairer society (Craven Herald, November 26) – Loretta Gooch pleads for a graduated tax system with a sliding scale of taxes based on income.
Isn’t this exactly what we have got in the UK (in common with all other western nations)? It may be news to Ms Gooch, despite her claims of many years’ interest in politics, but the richest really do pay the most tax.
In the UK, if you earn £10,000, you pay no income tax, and rightly so. If you earn £1 million, you pay £436,000. This tax rate for those who are lucky enough (or perhaps clever enough) to earn a million is much higher than in the United States. In America, if you earn a million dollars in a year, then you pay $355,000 income tax. So, our equivalent rate of income tax is much higher than across the pond.
If you were a successful entrepreneur, taking risks with your capital and creating jobs and wealth for the benefit of the UK and its citizens, wouldn’t you just be tempted to emigrate and keep more of your wealth, especially if tax rates were increased even further?
RICHARD LOWE,
Raikes Road, Skipton.

I FULLY concur with the letter from Chris Sharp – Trains are a let down (Craven Herald, November 26) – that North Craven is let down by Northern Rail.
Settle has been crying out for a later train from Skipton for many years, yet these cries continue to fall on deaf ears.
After 7pm, there are no fewer than 14 trains from Skipton to Keighley (the last being at 10.17pm) and a staggering 18 trains servicing Skipton from Keighley during that same time frame (the last arriving at two minutes past midnight).
Take a guess how many trains there are from Skipton to Settle after 7pm... one, leaving Skipton at 8pm! You can forget about catching the bus too... the last bus leaves Skipton at 5.45pm.
Not only are the residents of Settle and its surrounding villages missing out with the absence of a late train but the residents of Skipton and beyond are missing out, too.
Missing out on the fabulous pubs, restaurants, Victoria Hall Theatre and other delights this beautiful town and its villages have to offer. Come on Northern Rail, we’re not asking the earth, just a fair deal.
TIM CANNON,
Sandholme Close, Giggleswick.

ON NOVEMBER 19, four paragraphs in this paper alerted me to the planning meeting where the Wyvern Park plans were set for approval – Planners happy to back site. When the original development was proposed, I made inquiries and was promised I would be notified of the progress of the application.
The only information I received after that was through this paper when, firstly, the original plans were refused and, secondly, when I read the paper last week.
On November 23, I phoned the council to find out who I should contact. I was given the e-mail addresses for planning and two councillors; Paul English and Peter Madeley. I e-mailed them and received an automated acknowledgement from planning, and to date I have not heard anything from either of the councillors.
I was offered the chance to attend the planning meeting by the council when I phoned, but 1.35pm on a Tuesday is not convenient for someone who goes to work every day and I was told my e-mail would instead be considered.
On November 25, I e-mailed planning and, after several attempts, received a bland and confusing reply. I asked for further details on the same day; so far, I have not had a reply.
I am not against progress and new developments but I am concerned about the impact on people and property, and these key things have not been thought through. I live in Hothfield Terrace, which is at the top of Carleton Road, and over the nearly 16 years we have lived here the volume of traffic has increased due to other new developments and more cars being in use generally.
In the plan, Carleton Road will become a link road to the new development and the bypass. This will not work as the road will not be able to cope with the increase in traffic. There has been no study and no consultation with residents, and this must happen. You cannot build 225 houses and put in two roundabouts, pat yourself on the back and hope it will work.
Every day, many families with schoolchildren walk up Carleton Road and it will become unsafe for them to do so. The path on one side stops before the bridge and crossing the road will be incredibly dangerous and nearly impossible. In addition, at least one lorry a day misses the low bridge sign and comes down Carleton Road and has to turn at The Close. This causes chaos, and with a huge increase in traffic, the problem will only get worse. I fear also for those of us who park in Carleton Road; accessing our vehicles and for our vehicles themselves
Without proper consultation and a full study carried out on the impact on the local area and infrastructure, this new development cannot go ahead. To wave it through, ignore representation and hope for the best is not the answer.
TIM FORMAN,
Hothfield Terrace, Skipton.

CRAVEN District Council now needs to look again at its local development plan in the making to take account of the fact that net migration figures have hit an all-time high of 330,000.
This is the fifth consecutive quarterly rise in the net migration figure, with increases in arrivals from both inside and outside the EU.
If net migration continues at this rate – and there is no reason for it not to whilst still a member of the EU – then it may not matter a jot what the local development plan states regarding housing.
Central Government may need to override that plan as the housing crisis gets worse due to this level of migration, as well as the pressure on already overstretched Government services, such as healthcare, policing and schooling.
The Conservative Party’s promise to reduce net immigration to the ‘tens of thousands’ was never an honest pledge and, perhaps, the increasing number of young people priced out of the local housing market or unable to find social housing should direct their inquiries to Julian Smith MP.
On top of this comes the latest EU initiative on the migration crisis. Turkey, with its 75 million people, will receive about €3 billion in aid, fast-track access to visas and ‘accession to the EU talks’ in return for clamping down on the flow of migrants to Europe.
Bring on the referendum!
CLLR ROGER BAXANDALL, UKIP,
North View, Cross Hills.

THREE cheers for Wales – the first country in the UK to change the organ donor system.
Having had up-close-and-personal experience, I am fully aware of the gift of life given with love for our fellow men.
I have letters from the two previous MPs to current MP Julian Smith, which takes my begging for change back quite a long way. Everyone still has choice, but to opt out instead of opt in. God bless you Wales. Come on England. Keep up.
HAZEL BULCOCK,
Devonshire Mews, Skipton.

WITH reference to the article about Green’s Mill in Cononley in the Craven Herald on December 3 – Mill site earmarked for homes after sale (pictures above) – I wish to say that taking things into consideration, the conversion into flats is a sound idea, with certain provisos put in place.
PETER MITCHELL,
Napier Street, Cononley.

EVERYONE knows, I think, that in the unlikely event of ISIS taking over a western city rather than faraway Raqqa, that we would not bomb it.
What does that say about the relative value we place on civilian lives here compared with those in the Middle East?
BOB ADAMSON,
Fallowfield, Skipton.