Thank you, NHS!

These are repeat medication prescribed by doctors at Settle surgeries.

My wife and I have lived in Long Preston for over 25 years. As we are 82, we do not have to pay for these tablets, etc.

We both have hearing aids – mine are NHS supplied – and from time to time I visit the Settle health centre to ask for replacement batteries. These are supplied with a friendly word. Again no payment has to be made.

We wish to thank the local doctors, nurses and staff and, of course, the NHS for all the help and care we have received.

We very much appreciate this, especially at our age.

Maurice and Mary Bolton, Long Preston (full address supplied)

Meaningless term

Sir - I am glad that the Yorkshire Dales National Park has identified potential housing sites.

However, I disagree with them using the term “affordable housing”.

The term means nothing – everything is affordable to somebody. It is often used to increase the chances of a development being approved, but doesn’t necessarily make it beneficial to the area.

If the houses were intended for local first-time buyers, who were given support to buy them, that would be a different story.

Joe Lord, Leader, The Youth Party, Mill Close, Settle

Youngsters thanked

Sir - I would like to thank the young lads from Barnoldswick Town Football Club Under-16s who did a sponsored walk for Barnoldswick and Earby Bosom Friends and Airedale Hospital HODU.

They raised the magnificent sum of £2,000, which they have shared between the two groups.

So many people nowadays complain about and criticise young people but these young lads have made a terrific contribution to help others in their community.

Well done lads you deserve a big pat on the back.

A big thank you also to the organisers of the walk.

Sally Lambert, chairman, Barnoldswick and Earby Bosom Friends, East View Terrace, Barnoldswick

Health hazard

Sir - I fully understand our local council wanting to cut down on the weekly collection of household rubbish and switch to a fortnightly collection.

Some of the manpower will be lost and fuel for the running of the vehicles will be saved, but this will be to the detriment of everyone.

A large amount of the rubbish contains soiled napkins, from adults as well as babies, dressings from open sores ie ulcerated bed sores and lots more. The stench from these items plus rotting food and such will result in a health hazard.

Flies and bluebottles will become an utter plague. Billions of eggs will be laid and the amount of maggots resulting from this will be astronomical.

Our refuse collectors are doing a good job and deserve a meal for some of the foul filth they are in contact with during the course of a day’s work.

While the council are having their debate, let’s hope they reach the right conclusion. Keep the weekly collection. Think of fly tipping. Some bins are full to overflowing after a few days, especially for those with a large family.

Doreen Larsen, Princes Drive, Skipton

Solution to waste

Sir - Having worked on putting into place effective waste management systems in the middle of the Sahara desert, once again I am left in despair at poor precedents in the UK.

I did the Great North Run this year and was amazed at the amount of rubbish that was left for the local council to collect.

I also attended the RWM waste and recycling show in Birmingham to promote zero waste and how to achieve it.

I came back from the run tired and sore and I came back from the RWM somewhat frustrated.

I must have spoken to 50 groups of people about the possibilities of zero waste using processing at source, and whilst everyone thought the idea was great, when it came to suggesting a trial, I got the Gallic shrug.

Everyone agreed that the system of collecting recyclable materials and then transporting them around complete with what is essentially a lot of air, is a flawed concept. Clearly it makes more sense to condense it down before you transport it.

The mobile Materials Recycling Facility I have been using in the desert is a fully functional recycling unit in a shipping container. Put it down, open the doors, start the generator and process waste. Simple.

Back to the Great North Run. Had there been a mobile MRF at 5km intervals, or near water stations, bottles could be baled up on site, with lots of cubs and scouts collecting the bottles to squash. At least 150,000 of them!

Use the same MRF system at a supermarket, university, factory, outdoor event and suddenly you are making huge savings. Imagine not having big vehicles collecting waste and charging you or your company, but having a vehicle collecting already-processed waste and paying you for it.

Coupled with a food dehydration system attached to any kitchen waste outlet, and bingo, you are approaching that desirable goal of “zero waste to landfill”.

What I like about the mobile MRF system is that no building is needed, no foundations, and when it is needed elsewhere, you simply pick it up and move it.

A financial survey into the efficacy of the Mobile MRF system showed it somewhat favourably against moving air around the country – with six noughts on the savings figure.

So, why are we still collecting huge volumes of waste and moving it miles away to condense it for recycling?

Probably because we are not a nation happy to take the obvious solution if it means making changes… and we love complaining about, among other things, plans to reduce the frequency of refuse collections.

Andy Ive, Fairfield, Burton-in-Lonsdale

Development fears

Sir - I would like to remind the public of an item on September 17 in the Craven Herald on Page 10, referring to the main sewage pipe serving the whole of the Aire Valley below Skipton down to the sewage works at Marley, Keighley.

Craven District Council’s new Local Development Framework, which has proposals for large growth in new house building in South Craven, and Bradford Met’s large house building programme in Steeton must not be allowed to go forward until a new sewage pipe upgrade has been implemented.

In the 1950s Thornhill Road was part of my paper round, with houses on one side of the road only and stopped at the “Dump”. The road continued up to Stone Grove via Pot Lane. How things have changed.

Building development in South Craven, which includes Sutton, Cross Hills, Eastburn, Steeton and Silsden, never stops, but the planning authorities – North Yorkshire County Council, Craven District Council and Bradford Met – fail to provide infrastructure that keeps pace with building developments. The proposal to build a further large number of houses down Thornhill Road at Steeton, which will have no new road to service them but use the existing one, will make existing problems much worse. Surely a development on this scale needs another access on safety grounds?

All the parish councils in South Craven have expressed concern about the inadequacy of the present sewage pipe capacity, which is known to overflow between Steeton and Utley when there is heavy rain.

What do Yorkshire Water say about this huge growth in houses in the area? When are they going to listen to the public as well as developers?

The continual increase of traffic through our villages brings with it more road safety problems, but there does not appear to be the will to solve them. The large increase in traffic from the Thornhill Road development will make the problem worse.

Bradford Met has made no provision for the ever-increasing number of children from all these new houses going to South Craven School from Steeton, Eastburn and Silsden.

The school has become too big for Cross Hills and the time has come for the local authorities of Bradford, Craven and North Yorkshire to realise that a new school needs to be built to serve the continuing population growth in the Steeton, Eastburn and Silsden area.

If the local authorities are not going to provide infrastructure to service all these future developments, perhaps they should think less about growth and concentrate on the quality of life of existing residents.

Roger Nicholson, Park Drive, Sutton in Craven

Joining forces

Sir - This year the Rivers’ Movement won the Environment Agency’s award for the best climate scheme in the Northern region.

On a small budget, but with a lot of community support and enthusiasm we showed a common link between flood victims in Surat, India, and victims in Doncaster.

The people who took the lead were a song writer, a historian and the professor of creative technology at Leeds Metropolitan University.

We believe that the writers, performers, singers, film makers, story tellers, painters, illustrators in an area should draw close to the environmentalists and show their commitment to this big issue in these challenging times.

We are kick-starting the Aire and Calder programme with a “Book in a Day” session initiated by Malhamdale Initiative and Pontefract Press in Malham.

Called the “Waters of Malham”, the writing of this book and the programme which follows should be of interest to anyone in the Craven area who has something to offer.

Anyone who has a love of the Dales and is worried about climate change and would like to be involved in this initiative in the future is welcome to contact me, by writing to my home address.

Brian Lewis,17 Linden Terrace, Pontefract, WF8 4AE

Don’t lose your vote

Sir - May I remind readers to keep an eye out for the electoral registration forms which local authorities are currently sending out to households? With a General Election coming, now is the time to make sure that you complete the form. Remember – you can’t vote if you’re not on the register, even if you do pay council tax, or have voted before.

It’s also worth thinking about whether you can get to a polling station to vote in person, or whether to apply in advance for a postal vote or a proxy vote (this is where someone you trust votes on your behalf).

To find out more, why not visit the independent elections watchdog’s website at www.aboutmyvote.co.uk Make sure nothing stops you from having your say on who represents you.

Peter Wardle, Chief Executive, The Electoral Commission, Great Peter Street, London

Respect the drivers

Sir - It’s party conference time and politicians will be after our votes.

Some respect for millions of drivers is overdue. We’ve contributed over £400 billion to public funds since 1997, but haven’t had the service we’ve paid for.

Laws are now so complicated that official bodies have to refund millions for improperly-levied motoring fines and parking penalties. Yet new government rules will land heavy costs on many innocent drivers who successfully challenge prosecutions that should never have been brought “Trial by camera” is error-prone and overlooks the fact that most accidents are not caused by speed. Instead, we need more police patrols who can catch drunk and drugged drivers.

Instead of wasting millions on developing unpopular road-pricing schemes, the next government should make best use of existing road space and stop the gratuitous removal of road space by different authorities.

Increasing congestion doesn’t help anyone, nor does driver fatigue through longer journey times. The Government should resist temptation to reduce safe speed limits on main roads and repair deteriorating roads before they cause accidents.

Cash-strapped authorities should look to improve safety most cost-effectively by engineering out hazards and the ongoing education of road users.

Brian Gregory, Chairman, Association of British Drivers, Langthorne Street, London

Hustings debate

Sir - Let us hope that the extraordinarily well-attended experimental US-style Open Primary Selection Meeting for the Skipton and Ripon Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) triggers a keen rational interest in local and national politics, but please do spare us from a heady descent into the frenzied, political, extravaganza that so characterises the Americans’ political electoral system.

Congratulations to Julian Smith who won the selection race. Judging from the jubilation in the hall that greeted the outcome of the ballot, he was the most favoured candidate by far. Oddly, the full ballot result was withheld. Maybe, in true Uncle Sam fashion, it is only the winner that matters. Time will tell if this experimental hustings system produces the most able candidate, meets the agenda of the Conservative party and contributes to better governance. Critics may suggest that this system is just a gimmick giving the illusion of deepening and broadening democracy, but in reality the criteria for their PPC has already been met at the earlier interview stage in the process. The corporatist Henry Ford’s slogan “You can have any colour you want as long as it’s black” may be analogous.

In the very limited time available, the moderator’s questions were principally directed to issues affecting the rural economy, wind farms, NHS and education. This was followed up in open question time with a good range of issues being raised, from the Iraq war to the parlous state of the economy. But sooner or later the questioning got round to that bête noir of the Conservative party – Europe! Not since the Corn Laws has an issue like the “European Project” torn the party asunder. It sunk Ted Heath, bagged Mrs Thatcher and took the scalps of William Hague and Duncan Smith as well as undermining the government of John Major.

The perennial dilemma of the Conservative Party appears to be in having to keep their powerful corporate sponsors happy (mostly Europhiles) whilst at the same time trying to give the impression to the party faithful (mostly Eurosceptics and minor sponsors) that their sovereignty and traditional freedoms and liberties are safe with them, but of course they are not. No prizes for guessing who calls the shots.

Mr Smith tackled the European issue head on and won the afternoon’s biggest applause as he ratcheted up his tempo on the burdens of EU regulations to small businesses.

He cited the example of sheep tagging as just one bizarre example of EU bureaucracy gone mad, though a charming audibly-challenged gentleman sat next to me who hadn’t quite moved on from crime and punishment was adamant it served them right – quite so, good point sir! Mr Smith, sensing he had hit the sweet spot, raised the tempo even higher by saying he would fight further regulations and treaties from Europe, support both a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and champion a return of some powers to Westminster. He even went so far as to say he disagreed with David Curry’s well-known views on Europe. He was home and dry – his face fit.

Now was not the time to spoil the party by delicately suggesting that this may not be possible or to remind him that powers only go one way – to Europe, they are not returned (Acquis Communautaire).

William Hague wooed and won the hearts and minds of the party faithful, but he left his principles and deeply-held convictions on Europe behind as he walked into the aye lobby to vote through the Maastricht Treaty. There would be time to take them out and polish them another day. Plus ca change.

AJA Smith, Colne Road, Glusburn

Yorkshire hospitality

Sir - Would it be possible to print our thanks to a true gentleman?

Last month, during a visit to Yorkshire, we went to Bolton Abbey.

We had a wonderful walk and missed the bus back to Grassington and then on to Skipton where we were staying.

It was getting very cloudy and cold and we’d got a three hour wait for the next bus. Our “knight” had been to the shop and joked “were we waiting for the train?” I said no, we were waiting for the bus in three hours.

He then offered to take us back to Skipton, refused any money, but said we could make a donation to Martin House Hospice. This we did on being delivered back there.

So, gentleman from Silsden, we had a fabulous week in Yorkshire, made sure we caught all our buses on time and have booked again for next year. So many, many thanks for true Yorkshire hospitality – it is sadly something we’d be hard to find down here.

Ann Brandon and Peggy Read (sisters), Green Way, Great Horwood, Milton Keynes