YEP Letters: March 10

Check out today's YEP letters
Aerial shot of Leeds Bradford Airport. Picture by Tony JohnsonAerial shot of Leeds Bradford Airport. Picture by Tony Johnson
Aerial shot of Leeds Bradford Airport. Picture by Tony Johnson

Church Fenton gets my vote

Mel Smart, Farsley

I agree with many of the points raised by Mr Duffy (‘Airport plan ‘white elephant’’, YEP Letters, March 7).

However, it is perfectly possible to construct a branch line from the Leeds to Harrogate line at Horsforth.

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Yeadon is the highest airport in Britain and suffers from the vagueries of the weather as we all saw recently when we saw an aeroplane land sideways on.

Church Fenton is definitely the answer to an international airport and is ripe for development.

It has easy road and rail access and its runway will accommodate any size jet. It is surrounded by farmland so has few worries regarding noise.

It is on low lying land, not subjected to flooding and its biggest asset is that its runway is in line with the prevailing wind.

Mr Duffy gets my vote on Church Fenton every time.

EU: Should we stay or should we go?

Andy Shaw, Wakefield

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On Saturday March 6 I decided to check out the Brexit rally outside the Town Hall in Morley.

I also spoke to campaigners for the UK to Remain in the EU and some people in Morley on their way to Morrisons for a bit of shopping.

“Have you made your mind up yet?” I asked everyone who passed me. Roughly 60 per cent of people said “yes” and they “want out”. Roughly 30 per cent hadn’t made up their mind and 10 per cent were firmly in favour of remaining.

I was surprised. I thought that people would be 50/50 for and against the EU and that most people wouldn’t have made their minds up yet. People who said that they wanted “out” didn’t think about it before they answered, they had made their minds up. Are Saturday shoppers in Morley on their way to Morrisons typical? I’ve no idea. The next surprise has helped me make my mind up. The Remain campaigners gave a long list of benefits for staying in the EU. The main argument was that workers rights are protected – maternity leave, holidays and benefits. But haven’t workers rights have been won by working-class people fighting for them through their own organisations? Is there anything on the list of “EU benefits” that couldn’t be enacted by a UK government if we elected them to do it? Why do we need the EU to do these things for us?

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It occurred to me that the Remain campaign is mired in a deep pessimism. They genuinely see the EU as a benign authority who bestows benefits on its subjects. People seem to have forgotten that real rights have been fought for and won by us, not handed to us by Brussels. We can elect a government to do whatever we want, if enough people can be persuaded to vote for it. The Labour Party is united in the campaign for the EU. Have they lost their belief in themselves as an organisation and their ability to convince people? Is this why the argument has been left to different wings of the Tory Party?

Perhaps the defeat of Ed Balls by Andrea Jenkyns has hit the self-confidence of Labour Party members in Morley. But, I think the same pessimism would be evident across towns in Wakefield too.

Astounded at expenses

Judy Goodwin, Altofts

I was astounded to read 
that MEPs can claim up to £120,000 per year expenses without providing real proof of how the money is spent because officials don’t want to saddle them with an administrative burden, poor dears.

Is there any other profession that would allow this?

Is it any wonder that that politicians of all colours are fighting tooth and nail to cling to the corpse of this corrupt organisation?

Airport rail link is possible

Bill Tymms, Horsforth

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I am writing in response to recent articles about the Leeds and Bradford Airport Masterplan. It is pleasing to see they still include the idea of a heavy rail link on the Harrogate-Leeds line from Horsforth and possibility beyond.

Unfortunately at a recent West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Commitee meeting councillors rejected the heavy rail link following the advice by their consultants WSP. That contrary however to the WSP report it is possible to build a heavy rail link to LBA without expensive tunnelling and cutting as outlined below.

Some time ago I contacted Don Townsley of the Railway Mechanical Engineers organisation who is kindly allowing me use his report (rev2012).

This report also explains how to overcome the rise from 125m to195m above sea level. This gradient 1-27 is the same as that used between the City Thameslink and Blackfriars where 24 heavily laden run per day. In correspondence recently the RME group state that if an underground station is built at the airport the gradient could be as low as 1 in 40

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In 2012 Network Rail completed a new turnback facility here in Horsforth as outlined in the Yorkshire and Humberside Route Utilisation Study, at a cost of 8.659 million including other enhacements.

The idea was to turn extra trains round at Horsforth, this was originally proposed to start in control period 6 2019-2024 but was brought forward to coincide with some major signalling work,

This turn back is not been currently utilised fully apart from two trains a day and some Sunday services. This location would make an ideal link to LBA as it points towards the airport, which would eliminate a large percentage of the cost and infrastructure and would allow the proposed extra trains suggested in the YHRUS to run to the airport.

Incorrect assumptions

D Andrews, by email

In reply to Martin J Phillips (Letters, March 7), regarding postboxes.

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He is correct about some boxes being emptied only in the morning by delivery staff, but that just tends to be ‘low traffic’ boxes. The busier ones on high streets and outside post offices etc have collections in the afternoon and done by staff dedicated to just collection.

Also Mr Phillips wrongly presumes that with mail not arriving at the mail centre /sorting office til the afternoon, that damages any chance of first class mail being delivered next day.

The vast majority of mail doesn’t arrive at the mail centre til late afternoon /early evening. That is the busiest time of the day there. The criteria that dictates that it will be delivered next day is that it’s processed on time to go on the 10pm dispatches out of Leeds.

Then through the night it travels by road and possibly air as well via East Midlands airport (depending on what part of the country it’s addressed to)

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So Mr Phillips is basing his concerns on incorrect assumptions and with clearly no knowledge of how Royal Mail work.

Watch sweet treats

Stephen Ryan, Head of the North, Diabetes UK

With Easter just around the corner we know that many people with diabetes and their friends and family might be unsure about striking the right balance when it comes to chocolate eggs and other sweet treats.

When you have diabetes it’s really important to eat a healthy, balanced diet and to only include sugary, high-fat foods occasionally.

But Easter only comes once a year and people with diabetes shouldn’t worry about the odd one or two indulgences, as these will not affect long-term blood glucose control.

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When it comes to children with diabetes it’s important that they don’t feel that their condition excludes them from enjoying a chocolate treat like their friends or siblings, but parents might want to keep an eye on portion size and how much they are eating.

They may also want to check blood glucose levels of children more frequently if increased amounts of chocolate are being eaten, to enable adjustment of insulin doses where necessary.

We would also recommend that adults think about whether treasure hunts involving lots of chocolate eggs could involve alternative non-food treats as well, adding to the surprise.

We do not recommend ‘diabetic’ Easter eggs. Diabetic chocolate is just as high in fat and calories as ordinary chocolate, it can still raise blood glucose levels and is often more expensive than regular chocolate.

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We would recommend remaining mindful and keeping an eye on how much regular chocolate and sweet treats people are eating.

To see our selection of healthier Easter recipes go to diabetes.org.uk/easter-recipes