YEP Letters February 22

‘Achievements outweighed mistakes’

Harry Brooke, Meanwood

Winston Churchill had his faults but, like all great men, his achievements far outweighed his mistakes.

John McDonnell should be very careful in revisiting the distant past, otherwise historians may decide to list the mistakes that Labour leaders have made since the Second World 
War.

And Labour is still doing it over Brexit, by showing it couldn’t care less what the country ends up with because it is more concerned with getting the keys to Number 10.

Dismay at scooters for schools plan

P Hick, by email

I read with disbelief that Leeds City Council are giving money for new scooters to primary schools for children in a bid to encourage children to scoot to school instead of being driven in order to tackle air pollution and protect the health of children.

I can just imagine the chaos caused by all these scooters speeding along on the pavements at school times, especially when more than one school is close by. At the moment for safety reasons, most parents walk with their children to school along with young children (some of which are allowed to run on ahead) and other siblings in pushchairs, etc. and the pavements are overflowing already.

I see the odd ones on scooters flying along leaving their parents behind, dashing past driveways with drivers unable to see until they edge out of their driveways, and coming up behind other parents, elderly people, etc. walking on the pavement, some with other young children.

None of them have a bell, but they probably would only use that at the last minute anyway. Not many of them have safety wear, i.e. helmets, knee pads or elbow pads in case they fall off their scooter – are these also going to be provided by the council?

Who is going to maintain these scooters – the parents? If there is more than one child in primary school presumably they will all get scooters – the families may not have room to store them all safely at home. What if they are stored outside, say in a garage/shed and they get stolen, will they be supplied with a second scooter and the loss of the other just written off? Obviously, the children are going to want to use them out of school hours also, so scooters will deteriorate quite quickly.

Extra space is going to have to be provided by schools to store all the scooters during school times (presumably under cover). How is each child going to know which is their scooter? What if children live a long distance away from the school (as may be the case as the catchment areas are a lot wider these days), parents are still going to need their car to drop them off at or near school and then make sure they get to school safely/or go to work after and collect them at the end of the day.

What is wrong with good old fashioned walking to school? It is the parents who need to be educated to walk with their children to school and not bring them in cars, unless there is a long distance involved. A lot of them do this already.

Police are appealing for information after large heaps of rubbish were fly-tipped in a Leeds beauty spot. The mounds appeared in the picturesque east Leeds village of Barwick-in-Elmet. The picture - which was shared on Facebook by West Yorkshire Police’s Wildlife and Rural Crime force - shows what looks like piles of household waste including a mattress and a sofa among many other things. We asked YEP readers why they think people are blighting our communities by fly-tipping and here’s what some of them said on social media...

James Cook

Because Leeds City Council charge to get rid of DIY building materials and still have the cheek to raise the council tax again.

Kevin Lawson

It’s no coincidence that flytipping is on the increase after councils decided to charge for certain waste material.

This has happened country wide as councils introduced this “ waste tax” as a money generator. It will get worse and policing costs will far outweigh any benefits.

Gemma Hawtin

Huge amount in Bradford Cliff Hollins Lane too, so much had been thrown all along the road.

They’ve only just cleared a huge load and now another this morning along half of the road.

Freddy Fuggle

I’m not condoning this in any way shape or form. I think it’s an absolute disgrace. But if the councils didn’t put so many restrictions in place at refuse sites, there wouldn’t be so much fly tipping. Also it’s a lot to do with these fly-by-night “man with van” posts all over Facebook. Some people genuinely believe they are paying for someone to dispose of their rubbish legitimately.

Rick Rowett

Ask the council, ask any council. Fly-tipping has only become a problem since the government and councils decided to make money from it and make folk pay for a service that was free. Then they moan about environmental impact and end up having to pay to remove the rubbish themselves. It doesn’t make sense.

Matt Shipstone

I cycle a fair amount so you see this a lot. Given that it’s free to go to the tip I have no idea why you’d drive out of town to do this.

Steve Lamb

What did Leeds City Council expect when they started charging outrageous prices for taking a couple of bags to the tip? It was said at the time it would cause uncontrollable fly-tipping. But as usual no one listened.

Anthony Walton

Less bin collections+charges for the tip equals fly-tipping, simple maths.

‘Worst bus service’

Iain A Wilkinson, by email

I see First Bus apologises for the delays to the 42 service. The quoted 20 minute delay is a big improvement. This service is one of the worst I have ever had the misfortune to use. Often three or four buses arrive together. If you miss this window then believe me 20 minutes is nothing 45 to an hour being the norm.

So may I congratulate First for this important improvement. Yours, an often cold and wet resident of Lower Wortley.