YEP Letters: October 22

Pills are not the best remedy

Hilary Andrews, Leeds.

GOOD to read that prescription of social activities is finally gaining ground with GPs instead of doling out more and more pills when the basic problem is loneliness.

Meeting with and having discussions with others brings many benefits as well as dispelling loneliness.

Ditch the pills, doctors, and save the NHS thousands by treating this debilitating condition.

No ambience or beauty to new shopping park

Geoffrey North, Leeds

MY wife and I visited the newly opened Springs Retail Park at Thorpe Park, and we were very disappointed.

Cannot our architects come up with something more graceful and appealing than crude square boxes stuck side by side?

The inside of the stores are fine but you could be in any national store such as M&S, Boots and Next anywhere in the country and they are all the same. What particularly disappoints is that the box structures create a wind tunnel effect such that you were nearly blown over when moving from store to store.

It was particularly windy, but this is an elevated wide open site, particularly to the North. There is no ambience or beauty to the site with very little protection from the weather, it is a modern version of the monstrosities produced in the 1960s.

I hope the location is successful but I have a feeling it will become a white elephant.

A shopping experience in the Victoria Quarter in Leeds or in the centre of York is far more attractive and preferable.

Strike a balance on charges

Coun Andrew Carter CBE, Leader of the Conservative Group, Leeds City Council

I note with interest a small article in the YEP (“Fees rise at council-run site” October 4) regarding price increases at Quarry Hill car park in Leeds.

Whilst I understand this is the first increase at this site for a number of years, and that improvements have been made to the car park itself including lighting and allowing payment by card. I do hope that this is not going to be the start of widespread increases across the board.

We need to ensure a careful balance is struck between recovering costs versus throttling the local economy.

I am concerned, that by raising prices over 40% for a day’s parking, the administration is viewing this site as a cash-cow to be milked for all it is worth. Competitive rates for parking encourage shoppers into the city centre, and however much we encourage public transport, most will drive into the city and pay for parking.

We should be thankful for our vibrant, diverse and most importantly thriving, city centre economy.

We must therefore do all we can to protect this asset and make it easy for customers to make the most of it.

Wretched state of city’s public transport

ME Wright, Harrogate.

NOT surprisingly, there is widespread opposition to Leeds City Council’s bus-based wheeze, set to go scything through Alwoodley. Perhaps it’s worth mentioning that LS17 is a Tory heartland. Leeds has three Tory and five Labour MPs. There continues to be a deafening silence from them, and their predecessors, over the historic, wretched state of the city’s public transport and consequent road chaos.

When might we see ambition and determination at Westminster to ensure that this major European city gets the public transport it desperately needs and deserves?

No sympathy for Leeds Uber drivers

Peter Neal, Cleethorpes

As a Hackney Carriage driver in North East Lincolnshire, I was quite amused that dozens of Leeds Uber drivers staged a protest amid claims that an influx of drivers from neighbouring Yorkshire cities had left them struggling to earn a living.

As a Leeds United supporter, it is noticeable that some of these drivers tout after games outside McDonalds.

I’ve seen countless Uber drivers trying to commandeer fares adjacent to the taxi rank and it is high time that enforcement officers from Leeds City Council carried out their responsibilities.

The Leeds Uber drivers have absolutely no sympathy from me whatsoever, as they openly approach prospective customers that are patently not pre-booked

Over to you Leeds City Council!

Try BHF’s home makeover challenge

Phil Dent, Area Manager at the British Heart Foundation

This autumn, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) is calling on the nation to take on its Makeover Challenge by giving their homes a fresh new look using items bought at BHF stores.

From upcycling a pre-loved piece of furniture to refreshing a whole room or space, the BHF is encouraging interiors enthusiasts, bargain hunters and those on a budget to get involved. Simply head to your nearest BHF home store in Yorkshire and the Humber to find items that will give your home a seasonal update. Then share the new looks on social media with the #BoughtatBHF hashtag. Offering furniture and electrical goods, new and used home wares and stylish homes accessories, every item sold in BHF stores helps to raise money to transform the lives of people living in the UK with heart disease, stroke, vascular dementia and diabetes.

Each year heart and circulatory diseases kill around 13,600 in Yorkshire and the Humber and currently 580,000 people in the region are living with them. It’s essential that we continue to accelerate research into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat these terrible conditions.

BHF furniture and home stores offer the perfect solution for students, first time buyers and savvy shoppers seeking affordable homeware, with sofas from £95 and wardrobes from £40. To find out more and for your nearest BHF store head to www.bhf.org.uk/makeover.

Get in touch

Please send your letters, which should be under 300 words, to [email protected]