YEP Letters: September 14

Is bike ride worth closing city centre?

M Little, by email

re Liz Goodwill’s letter about the City Ride (‘Why shut down city centre?’, YEP, September 12), what she says is spot on.

Why are Leeds City Council obsessed with closing down the city centre on a Sunday every so often?

Surely Roundhay Park would suffice for this event?

I know Leeds City Council are anti-motorist but what about the chaos to the bus services and people going to work, hospital visits etc?

The shops must lose thousands in revenue. Is a bike ride really worth it?

‘Lessons to be learned’ from transport plans

Leeds City Council’s leader has acknowledged there are “lessons to be learned” after a nine-month probe into Leeds’ abandoned trolleybus and Supertram projects. Coun Judith Blake was speaking after the council’s infrastructure and investment scrutiny board published the findings of its lengthy probe into the series of decisions – stretching back across three decades – which saw the two major transport schemes ultimately being scrapped. Speaking ahead of a meeting of the watchdog panel later this month Coun Blake said its work had been “vitally important in looking in detail at how the situation developed and most importantly the lessons to be learned”. We asked YEP readers for their views and here’s what some of them said on social media..

Philip Robinson

Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool... all have an effective public transport systems (trolley bus/ tram/ underground).

Leeds has a congested road network and a cycle lane. Well done LCC, not bad for 30 years of effort.

Scott Anthony Martin

Monorail. No traffic, cheaper than the tube, modern, can run adjacent to current roads with little disruption (station building aside), and could make it two-tier with an elevated cycle lane underneath.

You’d give people two new transport links and free up road space.

Bill Palfreman

They do exactly the same thing as buses but cost about a thousand times more. Leave it alone for. If I need to get anywhere urgently I can already call an Uber.

Stephen Brook

I say this time and time again, over build in city centres, with building reaching into outer space, that is what jams roads up, everybody going to the same small area of the city, because they have to, not because they want to, but of course it becomes our fault, not the council.

Of course they do this, and most work start times and finish times will be the same.

Stop putting so much in a small space and spread out services and buildings across the city, Leeds wouldn’t be so congested in the same places every day.

Peter Grant

They could learn a lot from us in Scotland: How NOT to plan, how NOT to build a tram service and of course how to blame Westminster.

Thomas Staunton III

If the idea was good and the people wanted it, how many lessons can be learnt? Someone screwed up no?

Richard Edwards

Cable cars. Cheaper than teams or a monorail. Working really well in Rio, and would be a UK first too.

David Bailey

Put another bike path in. Biggest waste of money ever.

We should get a rebate.

Leeds City Council are a waste of time.

Liam O’reilly

We have a great council, the most efficent at wasting money.

Joelle Bingham

Please no more buses! Trams or an underground or something.

Darryl Tarling

Just build the monorail that this fine city deserves.

Simon Woods

Lessons to be learnt? To what cost? And how long will it be until you say the same again?

Paul Done

Leeds City Council put a cycle lane in no one asked for then want a tram no one wants.

Why don’t you ask us what we want as council tax payers? What about giving us a swimming pool with slides, ice rink etc etc like other major cities have? Do something for the people.

Richard Jackson

Don’t waste our money please. Already wasted enough on the stupid cycle lane.

Ben Ijatomi

How much is that lesson costing tax payers?

Mark Frankie Richardson

yeah the lesson is that Leeds doesn’t get funding for anything because it’s not London.

Bill Phipps

Leeds Council waste too much on vanity projects.

Divide and rule tactic on pay

R Kimble, Leeds 5

So the public sector pay cap will be lifted for selected staff?

Good old divide and rule tactic, eh, Theresa May? May I remind everyone in this country that none of those in the House of Commons has any qualifications to do the job they do, Jeremy Hunt being the classic example.

No qualifications and no skills, just the right social connections.

Get behind cancer campaign

Gemma Cross, Local CLIC Sargent Fundraising Engagement Manager

You may not know but September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (CCAM), and at CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, we are asking locals to get behind our campaign to raise vital funds and awareness.

For CCAM, we have revealed the ‘hidden costs’ of cancer through the impact it has on the mental and emotional health of parents.

Our new research found that more than half of parents (63%) said they experienced depression during their child’s treatment, more than a third (37%) experienced panic attacks, 84% experienced loneliness.

Worryingly, less than 40% of parents accessed support for managing stress and anxiety during their child’s treatment. To show your support for these families during CCAM you can get a gold ribbon by donating on our website.

The money raised will help provide vital support for families of children and young people living with cancer who are affected by these issues.

It’s tough seeing your child go through cancer. Get your gold ribbon today to show your support and help more families cope.

We are also inviting people to help us fight for change for young people with cancer and their families by becoming CLIC Sargent campaigners.

This might involve signing 
a petition, making noise on social media or writing to your MP.

For more information about Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and how to get involved, please visit www.clicsargent.org.uk/ccam.

To find out more about fundraising in general please phone 07771 968129 or email [email protected].

Get in touch

THE Yorkshire Evening Post wants you to share your views with other readers.

To join the debate email [email protected].