YEP Letters: January 19

New sculpture in Morley park

Coun Judith Elliott, Chairman, Morley Murals Committee

Residents using Scatcherd Park will have seen a carving in place in the flower bed, which is unfinished.

The Morley Murals Committee have commissioned this carving which on four sides of the stone depicts the first known worship in Morley on the site of St Mary’s in the Wood Church, St Mary’s Church, St Mary’s Community Hall where worship is now held and The Pancake Bell. There is another part to be added to this carving, and when it is in place and we are ready for the unveiling I will let Morleians know, which should be the beginning of March.

The committee have been discussing this project for a number of years, and finally we have brought the idea, which came from Coun Shirley Varley, to fruition. It has been sculpted by the talented Melanie Wilks a local sculptor who has done other sculptures in Morley. Marshall’s Quarry at Woodkirk have kindly provided the stone for which the committee are grateful.

Put children’s health and welfare first

P Spence, Pudsey

I found it interesting to read in the YEP on Friday that the council are considering a grant to put mosaics down the subway on Primrose Hill leading to the Owlcotes Centre and Primrose Hill School in Pudsey, which would create a colourful and meaningful piece of art for the public and community, when myself and others have been trying have the problem of people feeding the birds with piles of bread which is encourage the infestation of rats in the area stopped!

We have been trying for the past 10 months to get the council to erect some signage demanding people stop feeding the birds. We contacted pest control, environmental health, they said it was not their responsibility to erect signs but if people continued feeding the birds they would never get rid of them. We did not need telling that!

I contacted Coun Andrew Carter who had the same sort of response but did eventually get some response and the council had some A4 paper notices made, put them in plastic A4 sleeves and tied them to the lamp post with tie wraps, they said they could not get funding for anything better. But now we can have mosaics!

Many of the people walking in this area would prefer to have rid of the rats first. The area is next to Primrose Hill School and nursery and I am sure the health and welfare of the children and the public should come first.

How long do the council think the mosaic will remain as it is intended when the local artists cover it with graffiti as they have been doing for years, and the council should know this as have been cleaning the graffiti off the walls of the subway and the wall leading to the Owlcoats Centre many times over the past years.

Easy to report potholes

Coun Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council Executive Member for Regeneration, Transport and Planning

Monday’s editorial made me think it might be difficult to report potholes to Leeds City Council. So I fired up Google and typed in “Leeds report potholes”. The first result took me to the council’s “report problems with roads and pavements” page. Another click and I was able to put in details of a potholes or report damaged road services.

Not bad, really! But if you want to cut out the search engine, anyone wishing to report a pothole in Leeds can do so by going to my.leeds.gov.uk. If only everything was as simple as that!

Appalled at criticism of NHS

Mrs D Chadwick, Garforth

I am appalled at the constant criticism of this wonderful organisation, the NHS.

In my opinion it is not all the government’s “fault”, nor is it the “fault” of NHS staff, GPs or a lack of funding, some of the responsibility is ours.

We live longer, we have more support and drugs than ever before to keep us going, we will not wait for care, we no longer care for each other, the extended family has gone, the young cannot care for relatives as they live nowhere near them or they simply do not want to, some work long hours and have no time, we eat too much, drink too much, smoke too much, exercise too little, bringing on medical conditions.

We often do not consider the alternatives, the chemist, buying paracetamol, changing lifestyle. If we all did our bit do your readers think it would help? Because I think it is worth it.

Cyclists please check your lights

Denise Marsden, Cookridge

Can I, through your column, pass on a message to the two cyclists who were riding from Otley towards Leeds last Wednesday, at around 4.30pm? Please, please get your lights checked!

When I came upon them, neither back lights were lit, (neither steady nor flashing).

It had been a dull day and was now verging on gloomy, in that in-between period before true dark, and they had not yet been picked out in my headlights. Fortunately I had slowed down because of the gloom, and then suddenly they were a silhouette against the bright headlights of the oncoming rush-hour traffic.

After I had overtaken them I glanced back in my rear-view mirror, as I was taught to do when I learned to drive, to double-check that they were all right, and I saw that one of the bikes did have its front light lit. The other was still dark. The cyclists didn’t seem to be wearing anything easily visible.

January and February are not known for their bright days and light nights, so please, cyclists, we motorists would be grateful if you would check your lights – and clothing.

We do our best to avoid you, we know how vulnerable you are, please remember that however careful we are, if anything should happen, then we too have to live with the consequences.

It’s called growing up

Terry Rafferty, Bramley

Can’t believe what I’ve been reading these last few days about school kids having mental health problems.

What’s wrong with the kids of today? Back in the 50s and 60s when I was at school we had to deal with the same things - changing schools, exams - it’s called growing up.

The parents and teachers of today should stop filling the kids’ heads with all this rubbish and just let them be kids and make the mistakes that we did back then.

Current site not suitable

Ivan Kovacks, by email

I see from your paper that the cricket club has had planning permission to revamp the Headingley ground and the old stands.

Well done to them, getting permission is a job well done. Let’s just hope the planning department has not passed a plan as outrageously ugly as the exterior of the John Lewis store and that in this case it will be a modern, innovative design that will be a credit to the city.

I also hope that it will help in guaranteeing permanent test match status to the ground. As a long term visitor to Headingley (I started in the 60s) to see both cricket and rugby I have seen many changes over the years and no longer think the current location suitable for such large crowds.

In my opinion, with so many more people attending by car, the best thing would be to find a suitable site on the outskirts of the city to have a completely new combined ground that the city would be proud.

We need your Heart Heroes

Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive, British Heart Foundation

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is asking readers to nominate their Heart Hero for our Heart Hero Awards 2017.

The four categories this year are: Inspiration award, Fighting spirit award, Young hero award, Heart health professional award. These awards recognise and celebrate the supporters, fundraisers, volunteers and partners who have made an exceptional contribution to our fight for every heartbeat.

Last year’s winners included four-year old Ellie Payne who raised over £24,000 for the BHF and Jenny Kumar who joined friends to organise a photography exhibition in which heart patients proudly show their scars.

Since the BHF was established the annual number of deaths from heart and circulatory disease in the UK has fallen by half. We are asking readers to nominate their Heart Hero, so we can celebrate their achievements in helping us to eradicate this devastating disease. Find out more at www.bhf.org.uk/heartheroes