YEP Letters: September 25

Leeds City Ride was ‘fantastic idea’

Colin Smiley, Wakefield

READING letters from readers complaining that the city centre was shut down for the City Bike Ride - what a fantastic idea by Leeds City Council.

It was joyous to see families and children riding their bikes in clean air in Leeds. Every city in Britain should take note of what Leeds has done. Prime Minister Theresa May thought it was such a good idea she closed Downing Street down and let adults and children play cricket outside No.10.

She should go even for them and call a national No Driving Day so everybody can benefit from good old British fresh air.

I bow my cap to Leeds City Council.

Well done.

Push ahead with new flood prevention plans

Coun Andrew Carter, Calverley & Farsley Ward

I was delighted to support the proposals put forward by the council, in conjunction with the Environment Agency, to push ahead with new flood prevention measures.

Finally those people, including councillors, who were calling for ever higher flood barriers in Leeds city centre have realised that only by taking measures on the whole catchment area of the River Aire, from its source, will we begin to combat flooding.

Now, hopefully and finally, we are all agreed that besides flood defence walls, we need a significant tree planning programme, more wetlands created, and areas of land reserved that can be used to contain flood waters when the need arises.

The report that came to the Executive Board of Leeds City Council this week, and was put together by the council and the Environment Agency, is absolutely right in arguing for more natural flood defence measures, and lower flood walls.

Of course, it would help to combat flooding if Leeds City Council were to reduce its ludicrously high target of 70,000 houses being built between now and 2028, and urgently reviewed those sites that undoubtedly will contribute to flooding.

Plush or not so plush?

Carol A Gannon, Leeds 15

I read with interest the report on average life spans in the so called “deprived and not so deprived” areas of Leeds.

Harewood apparently is classed as “plush” and so you are likely to live the longest if you move there. When I grew up in the area nearly everyone either worked on the estate or were involved in agriculture and very few people owned their own home.

Fast forward a few years; I wonder how many in the “average 86 years” figure quoted, were actually some of these retired workers. They would no doubt put their longevity down to hard work, home cooking and the free fresh air, my father being one of them - who is now in his 90s. On the other side of the coin, my mum and sister both passed away before they were 45, so not such an advantageous place to live for some.

Yes, all villages are changing, rarely for the better, but it is wrong to assume areas are solely made up of either, the have or have-nots.

Yes, some may choose to call Harewood plush but what does it have now - nose to tail traffic through the village day in day out and not a shop/Post Office in sight, apparently that is progress.

Employment rights concern

Mark Norris, by email

Re the story regarding Mrs Procter being bullied out of the Conservative selection interview.

Mrs Procter stated in the YEP that “she employs a large number of people, and if she treated people like that, she’d be in front of a tribunal every week”.

But that isn’t strictly true, since the Conservative government once again in power has removed employment rights for two years giving rogue employers free rein to abuse staff, whilst they also brought in a £1200 charge for people who dared to go to an industrial tribunal, a charge that was contested whereby the government reluctantly withdrew it.

Maybe Mrs Procter may now see what people are being subjected to daily thanks to her uncaring government.

Pay rise is long overdue

Joyce Aveyard, Leeds 7

IT is not surprising that we are losing our wonderful medical people to far distant shores.

Doctors and nurses in Britain are the finest, trained, qualities respected throughout the world, the learning period is a lengthy one, during which they exist on extremely low salaries, working long hours.

So why the hesitation and reluctance to pay promised long overdue pay rises? Without doubt this oversight requires urgent acknowledgement, for the immense valuable service given by them to our communities.

Big plus, they save lives too.

Puzzled about recycling

M Whitehead, Leeds 7

A recent letter from David Speight encourages us to recycle more.

Well, I have to say that whilst most things are easily distinguishable in the recycling sense, there are some anomalies that have me puzzling - are they, are aren’t they? Mr Speight gives several dot com things for contact purposes but we all do not have such facilities.

A couple of weeks ago I rang the telephone number given in the leaflet supplied by Leeds City Council.

Eventually after several options, I managed to speak to a very pleasant young lady who couldn’t help but would put me through to someone who could. However, I was back again with the options.

So, I wrote a letter. But where to send it? I eventually sent it to the Civic Hall where presumably it has now been recycled.

I peer at containers looking for clues, find the triangle, there isn’t a number but underneath are the letters PE. Hmm. Well, it’s bottle shaped so take a chance.

Then I have a plastic bag. There is the recycling symbol but it has a line through it and says plastic not currently recycled.

Right next to it is a triangle with 4 in it and LDPE underneath which indicates recycleable. As one of the songs from “The King and I” - “’Tis a Puzzlement.”

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