YEP letters: November 8

Bus services are vital

Sue Hillarby, Cookridge

I left my house at 9.25 for a bus up to Holt Park for a very important physio appointment at 10am after having major heart valve replacement surgery.

I waited and waited no buses, then one

came about 35 minutes later therefore I missed my appointment and so did two other gentlemen.

Buses were still coming down from Holt Park but none were going up. Why?

I think First seriously need to look at routes. There are a lot of passengers who don’t own or drive a car so rely on a good service to get us from A to B and on time and not for us o spend ages waiting for a bus and therefore miss a vital appointment.

No wonder passengers have swapped to using their cars – I would if I could drive.

In praise of the cheerful driver on the 134 bus

K and D Ingle, Gildersome

We write in commendation of the bus driver of service 134. He was an absolute joy and clearly loves the job he does.

We were returning from Castleford to the Junction 32 shopping outlet early one evening recently before driving home. The driver had music playing which we thought was unusual, but by no means was it unwelcome!

Neither of us have come across a bus driver quite like this. He was very chatty, polite and helpful, so much so he checked train times on his tablet for a woman with a young child. Definitely the best bus driver we’ve come across! Please pass on our thanks for an excellent journey.

Just step up and get on with it

Judy Goodwin, Altofts

After the devastating flooding last year why does not someone in Government get their finger out? They should declare it a national disaster, organise money to be taken from the bloated international aid and commence dredging and tree planting on a industrial stage the length and breadth of the country, rather than hand-wringing.

I swear these people would be unemployable outside the Westminster bubble, all talk no action.

Great chance to think greener

Chris Bell, Policy officer, Leeds Green Party

The council has sought input from groups and individuals about the future strategy for how Leeds should look along with how we navigate our fine city. Leeds Green Party views this as a fantastic opportunity to think very long-term in terms of vision and be bold and brave in implementing measures that can lead the way in planning a better future.

Environmentally sustainable solutions must always be at the heart of the planning process. There can be great health benefits from making walking and cycling safer and easier in Leeds, making the whole of Leeds city centre a non-private car zone will improve air quality and speed up journey times for buses.

High-quality public transport is of paramount importance to us as fast, affordable and reliable mass transit systems will reduce people’s reliance on their cars. Recent developments in building new railway stations have been encouraging and further expansion of the rail network will be a positive step.

We’re no longer Great Britain

Terry Watson, Adel

GB used to stand for Great Britain, unfortunately it has now become Gullible Britain due to spineless politically correct politicians and their subservience to Brussels.

We are now well-known as the soft touch of the world. No wonder so many migrants refuse to stay in France and are determined to get to “treasure island” Britain.

They are not seeking asylum or they would have been glad to find refuge in the nearest country from which they are fleeing.

It is common knowledge among migrants who are just looking for a better life,that once they get into Britain they will never be sent back,and the authorities will bend over backwards to provide them with free housing, benefits and health care.

The Government should be ashamed that our pensioners are lucky if they receive £6,000 a year to live on having paid into the system all their lives, the third lowest pension in the world.

Theresa May should put an end to this criminal waste of taxpayers’ money and put a cap on all benefits and close the borders now. Brexit should be accepted.

‘Remoan’ camp are bad losers

Derek Barker, Moortown

Once again we have the bad losing EU remoaners on their remain bandwagon refusing to accept democracy by having a High Court Judge rule that the Government must ask Parliament to vote on when, if ever, article 50 should be invoked for us to leave the EU – apparently on the grounds put forward by the ‘remoaners’ that the electorate weren’t made aware of the potentially dire economic consequences to this country if we do leave the EU.

The remain campaigners practically bust a gut trying to point out to the electorate the potential consequences to the country if we left the EU during the referendum campaign, this information hardly constitutes any new or significant evidence being presented to the court.

It simply implies that the electorate are too stupid to know what is good for them. The fact is that by Parliament voting in favour of holding the referendum the legal implication is that Parliament should accept the outcome of the referendum.

When children go to war

Alan Bramhope, Leeds

With Remembrance Day approaching, I have been thinking about child refugees in the Second World War and have realised that it was only thanks to our brave young people, many of them children who pretended to be older than they were in order to fight for their country, that British children were spared having to flee this country as refugees.

What a contrast to today’s ‘child’ migrants, many of them grown men pretending to be younger than they are in order to enter Britain.

Let’s get trams back on track

Nick Keer, Cottingley

In response to the recent letters about transport why can’t we get the tram system back on the agenda? It’s a crying shame it was ever taken off. Look at Manchester’s Metrolink system. It’s expanding all the time and carries thousands of passengers every day. Leeds needs the same.

Keep up the pressure

A Oddy, by email

It was heartening to see other Leeds citizens criticising the transport systems currently in place, simply because it is not fit for purpose and is causing serious harm to our great city. Further to my previous letter on buses, the fact that all the main arteries into the city centre become clogged from around 4pm to 6pm with cars only adds to the problem.

I didn’t expect anyone from First or Metro to reply to my letter or accept my challenge of using the bus ‘service’ for a week. Nor do I excepted anyone from the council, in particular the councillors, to offer any kind of explanation to my or other people’s concerns. Hopefully however continual pressure can see some results and solutions.

Our roads need proper policing

N Bywater, Oak Grove, Leeds

The total number of casualties in Leeds of all severities in 2015 was 7,224, up by four per cent from 6,940 recorded in 2014.

The Roundhay Road and Harehills Lane junction is one of the most dangerous in Leeds. I drive through that junction every day; I see drivers running red lights, or making illegal right turns almost every day. But yet I have never seen a police response.

The number of traffic police has declined over recent years. Do we need more traffic police, or more cameras? What needs to happen before the police take action?