YEP Letters: April 27

Memories of former library building

Keith B Davey, Leeds 10

with reference to your story about the former York Road library (YEP April 24) I notice you do not mention its other main use.

I refer to the swimming baths in the same building, I remember it well when I lived over the road in Viceroy Street, also known as ‘Little Hell’ when it was a slum area, hundreds of back to back houses with no bath or hot running water, this building was well used.

I’m sure others will remember those days only too well, this area was cleared around 1954 when we were all rehoused.

Stop glorifying NHS staff: they are paid for job

Duncan Long, via email

If a major employer with a product that was labour intensive taking 24 hours a day to produce, began giving its staff time off as a thank you every time it got busy and they did the job they were employed to do, then it wouldn’t survive long (‘Reward for NHS staff after cold snap’, YEP April 19).

Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust; a ‘needs improvement’ rated trust, spends much of its time bleating it doesn’t have enough staff, while paying out thousands in agency fees.

This ridiculous idea could result in 8,000 working days lost, for what benefit exactly? Unison loves the idea of course, as it’s a step nearer trade union heaven.

It really is time we stopped glorifying NHS staff as being somehow unique in the workplace.

Angels haven’t existed for a long time, neither have matrons (a ‘modern matron’ is not a matron) neither is a surgeon or a consultant a miracle worker. They are all paid an excellent salary to carry out a particular humanitarian function; one that used to be a vocation.

What hypocrisy of chief executive Martin Barkley to tout being down and dirty with the staff, as a ‘support worker’, when he is paid a large salary to lead the organisation.

One can only hope there is never a major emergency requiring full commitment from Mid Yorkshire Trust over an extended period - there will be no staff at all; they will all be on a beach in Benidorm.

Halt the crisis in care funding

Judy Goodwin, Altofts

Politicians could halt the crisis in care funding over all of the care sector if the will was there.

All nursing and residential home fees should be paid direct from the government: £600 per week for residential and £800 for nursing, not a penny more, not a penny less, leaving councils with the money from rate payers to cover social care.

The government can find billions for overseas aid and the EU, so I feel sure they could scrape together a couple of billion to pay for this.

Community treated with disregard

S Goodall, Ferrybridge

Knottingley and Ferrybridge provide Wakefield Council with substantial funding via rates payments by in situ heavy industries.

What cannot go unchallenged is that recently the council reported having insufficient funds to upgrade Knottingley Sports Centre.

This facility promoted close community cohesion and health benefits to a needy cohort in the south east of the district.

It is not right that this community living in an industrial area with the obvious air pollution should be treated with such disregard.

Condemnation of diesel cars continues

Ernest Lundy, by email

In the quest for cleaner air the condemnation of diesel powered cars by the authorities continues.

So much so that as a result sales of diesel engine cars has dropped by one third and thousands of jobs are expected to be lost in car productions companies.

Drivers of diesel powered cars are taxed to a higher level because of higher emissions and yet, after long experience on the road, old, badly maintained petrol powered cars (burning oil) emit fumes equally as bad.

At the same time other air polluters, all using diesel derivatives, such as ships, aircraft, industrial and home heating, railway locomotives, HGVs and passenger vehicles are rarely mentioned.

Furthermore, the time when commercial vehicles find a useful, cleaner alternative must be still a long way in the future. Why is it therefore that the poor old motorist, having bought a diesel powered car in the past (although having to pay more for it) as a cheaper alternative to petrol, is always the one to suffer most?

Next they put diesel up beyond the cost of petrol; and now we are told we shouldn’t buy diesel driven cars or suffer further consequences!

Reasons for limited stops

Mrs P Harrison, Leeds

In reply to Janet Porter (YEP Letters April 16) and as a regular user of the No 36 Leeds to Harrogate and Ripon bus, regarding her complaint about its inconsistency as it is a limited stop bus.

The reason is because of the distance it travels and as most of its passengers also travel a long distance, the bus is a limited stop, this is to allow these people access to the one and only bus they can use.

It is also to stop passengers who only make short journeys filling the bus up. Most of these people like her have a choice of buses, unlike the users of the No 36.

The No 36 only changes its route to Park Row near the station early morning and to Infirmary Street early evening for the convenience of people who travel to work in this area. The rest of the day and night its destination is the bus station.

So maybe Janet Porter would like to consider the people who only have the No 36 bus to use and not the choice of buses she has before she makes anymore complaints about the No 36 Leeds Harrogate and Ripon bus being a limited stop.

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