YEP letters: December 15

Station could come under airport terminal

Nick Keer, Cottingley

I’m in full agreement with the letter from Philip Farrar (YEP 13 December).

A new railhead for Leeds Bradford Airport would be fantastic, but to build a station on the existing Harrogate line, presumably somewhere between Horsforth and the southern portal of Bramhope tunnel, would be a waste of time and money.

What is needed is a short branch which diverges from the Harrogate line just north of Horsforth and heads straight across to the airport, entering a tunnel for the last few hundred yards so as to terminate directly underneath the main terminal building.

I understand this would cost several million quid, but getting it right first time would save a substantial amount of cash long term.

Double whammy from Leeds Council

Shaun Kavanagh, by email

Leeds City Council (LCC) strikes again and with great timing by advising further tax increases and job losses just before Christmas.

The leader of Leeds City Council, Coun Judith Blake, talks of her council having become more efficient since 2010. I feel many will consider that statement flawed when considering the inexcusable amount of money wasted by her council when financing harebrained projects - such as the so called Cycle Superhighway which favours the very few and at cost in excess for £50 million. How was that efficient? It is understood there is to be more millions spent on re-surfacing the Leeds to Liverpool canal towpath, as announced by Coun Lewis, which will be another waste of money. Such projects show LCC as “inefficient”.

Her solution to balance the books of LCC’s inefficiency is to again hit the pockets of rate payers whilst also looking to take away the much needed jobs of 800 people. The city cannot do without workers on our streets for obvious reasons. In light of the latter cull comment, perhaps she might wish to start her cull by reducing the bureaucrats who sit in their ivory towers within the Civic Hall.

The talk of £270 million on new rail links etc with ever increasing rail fares is a joke when considering the state of roads in and around Leeds which, according to a Coun Lewis statement not too long ago, will cost £100 million to rectify. Then why not start on the roads used by thousands, if not millions, of vehicle users every day as opposed to schemes favouring fewer people. Just another reason why Coun Blake’s belief her Council is efficient is flawed.

Driving round in circles

D S Boyes, Upper Rodley Lane Leeds

THE headline ‘Roads to Nowhere’ was very apt, because that is the situation now, in the past and likely in the future.

As one who drove round Europe regularly from 1978 to 2005, the difference between there and here is not only obvious but staggering in its scale.

France had some mediocre roads in 1978, but in between times they have invested heavily, not only in their Péage (toll motorways) but on National Roads and also numerous by-passes and other improvements.

The difference being that over there they don’t seem to have objections on the scale we do, where whatever is proposed e.g. motorways, by-passes or power stations, potash mines etc. comes up against a wall of prejudice.

If that had been the case 200 years ago the Industrial revolution might never have happened. We’d be still using horse and cards and candles, as neither canals, railways, gas or electric power would have been possible.

A classic example in Leeds is the permanently gridlocked A65 A657 roads. As years ago there should have been an Aire valley trunk road built from Leeds centre right out through the Keighley area to Skipton then the M6. That’s what’s been achieved in France, Germany and Spain etc.

Here it’s NIMBY’s, tree-huggers, anti-everything under the sun, most not even local to where new things are planned, but professional agitators, it’s like our new national game. Unless or until this is overcome, West Yorkshire and Britain will continue in their downward spiral.

Cannot stand the hypocrisy

Terry Maunder, Kirkstall

I would like to thanks Denise Roberts for taking the time to respond to my letter about Trump and America. What I dislike about him, and the country generally, is their hypocritical self - aggrandisement, as compared with aspects of their actual history which do not bear scrutiny as the self - appointed guardians of the world.

Thus, my attack on the continued institutional racism and their own acts of “terror” in Iraq : remember Abu Graibh? I am somewhat taken aback though by the comments about our history of Imperialism. We didn’t “add” places to “our” Commonwealth, we took countries over against their will and exploited them for our gain through racism and capitalism.

Desmond Tutu said of Africa that we “took their land and gave them The Bible”, an indictment of the role religion played in all this and yet modern day politicians castigate the role religion plays in Daesh? Religion played a similar role in America and in the genocide of First Nation groups. It’s the hypocrisy I cannot stand, the manipulation of historical fact, the double standards and the denial of votes to certain groups of people.

Ten good rules to live by

Monica Weatherall, by email

I AM not a religious person but would like to suggest that the Ten Commandments should be translated into modern day life and all languages and taught again in schools in such a way as to be relevant to the children of today.

This could be started at a young age and reintroduced every year or two at levels appropriate to the age and development of the children. These rules cover almost every aspect of life and if everyone could see the sense of doing right and not wrong to others it would be an advantage to themselves throughout their lives and make life better for everyone.

I cannot see how, although of Christian origin, the Commandments in today’s parlance could offend anyone of any creed and culture. If those children of criminal mind could only see how just a bad reputation, apart from Police records and later prison sentences, ruin the whole of their own lives into their old age as they will never feel fulfilled and satisfied with their achievements.

Better safe than sorry on roads

Ernest Lundy, by email

Regarding the return of fog and mist in the past week, takes me back to my time as a tanker driver for Shell-Mex and BP Ltd. out of the Leeds Depot.

Working on nights at the time I set out for Liverpool, in almost dense fog, accompanied by another group of drivers. Three of them decided to park up in Lowfields Road, because of the conditions, and stayed there for most of the night.

Myself and another persevered. While making our way with care up Geldard Road, the fog cleared, and remained the same all the way to Liverpool and back. The lads who never made it were paid just the same as us, no questions asked. The company always agreed that drivers of their vehicles should decide what was safe or not.

On another occasion landing at Luton in heavy fog, after a Spanish holiday, conditions on the M1 were so bad that after driving just a few miles, I parked the car on the far-side of a bridge support, staying there until the fog lifted. From another standpoint far too many drivers continued to drive when the desire to sleep becomes almost compulsive. The monotony of driving over long stretches of motorway can have an almost hypnotic effect. The cause of many serious accidents. The answer is to park up and rest a while, rather than risk the consequences. It would be a good idea to think about these things when driving over the coming holiday period. Better be safe than sorry!

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