YEP Letters: April 14

Check out today's YEP letters
spring flowers in the Monet Garden at Roundhay Park. Picture Tony Johnson.spring flowers in the Monet Garden at Roundhay Park. Picture Tony Johnson.
spring flowers in the Monet Garden at Roundhay Park. Picture Tony Johnson.

We must try to preserve green belt

Joanne St Lawrence

The best innovation has been to incinerate household and business waste.

Not only is the waste not going to landfill, the heat produced is channelled into offices and housing. Recycling, while well intended, has not been a success because people can’t be bothered sorting things out or are not sure what goes where. All new planning applications for housing, offices and leisure facilities should have the requirement of considering a heating plan from recycling. When it comes to green spaces, I cannot think of a city which has more parks and protected open spaces than Leeds. The lovely Rodley Nature Reserve recently won an award. We must try to preserve the ‘green belt’. There are plenty of brown belt areas, which should be used first for housing and the council should be rigid about this.

Could Leeds be more eco-friendly?

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April’s International Mother Earth Day - celebrated to remind us our ecosystems provide life and sustenance - prompted the topical question “Is Leeds green enough or could our city be more eco-friendly?” answered here by Yorkshire Evening Post Reader Panel and Memories of Leeds Facebook group members.

Denis Angood

There are plenty of green spaces in Leeds but making eco systems compulsory will not sit well with people.

If they want to be eco-friendly, it will be a personal choice.

Pam Dolan

I don’t believe Leeds is as green as it should be. More work should be done to educate and encourage everyone to recycle more. It is left to the householder to make the decision to travel to a bottle bank.

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I do this, but not everyone can. I have family in North Yorkshire, where a separate bin collection for glass is provided. More car-free zones could be imposed in the centre and businesses should be taxed, if they don’t make steps to help the environment, such as reusable coffee cups.

Lyn Facey

I think that the council are trying, but there is much more they can do by recycling the items no longer wanted by people, but which still have use and could be sold.

The tip in Seacroft has a shop where people can donate items and furniture for others to buy.

It would be great if more of these shops were set up and the money could go towards building local authority affordable rented properties for people who are homeless.

Gordon Mayne

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The recycle collections are sporadic at best. We should be able to recycle glass more easily and, finally, supermarkets need auditing to make them use less plastics.

Sandra Buendía González

Although there are always improvements to make when considering a city’s eco-friendliness, Leeds being among top 10 greenest 
cities in the UK has done a great job trying to obtain them. One example I heard about is Special Landscape Areas project to minimise visual impact of new developments by promoting green infrastructures.

Dennis Appleyard

My goodness, can any city ever be green enough?

We need more open space, more cycle and pedestrian-friendly zones, better public transport, deterrence to littering and dog fouling, more recycling and kids being encouraged to walk to school. How’s that for starters?

Dave Kelly

There are definite improvements to be made, but a real effort must be made by the individual, such as being mindful of wasting plastic bags, misuse of water, using suitable recycling points down to the smaller points of energy-efficient light bulbs.

Let’s leave our kids a planet in good shape!

Indee Watson

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With few green spaces in the centre of Leeds, as well as an abundance of cars and traffic, Leeds could definitely become a greener place.

Although this is difficult in modern times of big city buildings and cars, even small things such as planting more trees and reducing plastic waste in Leeds could help towards making Leeds greener.

Maggie Bellwood

Serious need for public transport improvements and not sure the current plans are radical enough.

Pat Waddington

Two weeks ago I travelled to Leeds city centre by train (from Selby) and was absolutely disgusted at the litter along the route. I was ashamed to think that I came from Leeds and realised that the term “Dirty Leeds” no longer just applied to the football team of latter years!

Terry Baldwinson

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The dumping of litter along railway tracks is widespread and is not restricted to Leeds. It’s a real blight, if not an actual danger in some cases.

Jim Briggs

It’s always been known as mucky Leeds to those who don’t live there.

Sue Pebbles Owen

Pretty soon Burmantofts, Lincoln Green and the city centre will be getting their power from the Cross Green incinerator.

Sid Buckley

I can’t fault Leeds when it comes to green spaces.

There are many public parks to walk around, Roundhay being the jewel in the crown in my eyes. Let’s not forget Golden Acre Park or Temple Newsam. We are very lucky to have so many places to walk around and admire. I find that a lot of the younger generation drop litter without a thought, not all I might add. I don’t mean very young, but in and around their teens to twenties. It would never enter my head to drop litter. Someone who came from Hunslet, we were taught right from wrong and also respect, lacking in a lot of young ones today. Not all, I must repeat.

Let us know what you think

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Email [email protected] or write to The Editor, Readers’ Letters, Yorkshire Evening Post, No 1 Leeds, 26 Whitehall Road, Leeds LS12 1BE.

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