YP Letters: City leaders stuck in a 60s mindset

THE new Victoria Gate / John Lewis complex highlights once again, the huge and imaginative investment in Leeds over the last few decades (The Yorkshire Post, October 28).

Clearly, there are some on the city council who foresaw and live in, the 21st century. There are also some who lack the vision an determination to drag the city out of the 1960s when it comes to public transport.

Councillor Richard Lewis is aggrieved at the lack of appreciation for “all the work we do” (The Yorkshire Post, October 29). Is that really so surprising when that work involved the endlessly well-predicted, £72m, 10-year failure of the nonsensical trolleybus fiasco?

Despite all the Europe-wide evidence to the contrary – including Sheffield and Manchester – Coun Lewis seems to be unable to shake off the idea that all Leeds needs is more of the same 1960s stuff, plus wi-fi. At least that would 
give passengers something to do, when stuck in yet another jam.

Leeds has eight MPs; so why is Greg Mulholland the only one tackling Westminster?

Given the recent announcement of £17bn for Heathrow, on top of a similar amount for Crossrail 2, is a concerted effort too much to ask?

As an afterthought: how much longer will Leeds be seen as a place to invest, without decisive action to ease the increasing gridlock and atmospheric pollution?

From: Sally Elsworth, Aberford.

I AM contacting you on behalf of the action group, Save Parlington which is based in Aberford.

Aberford is a small rural village on the outskirts of Leeds with around 1,100 people currently residing there.

New development plans have been put forward to have 5,000 homes built in an area of woodland that has been here dating back to as early as the 13th century. The UK has around two per cent of ancient woodland, and this area, Parlington Estate, we believe is part of that two per cent.

The news has devastated everyone in the local area and surrounding villages People move to these small villages in order to escape the hustle and bustle of city life and they want the country lifestyle. Soon this will disappear with the addition of these 5.000 homes.

Inching to agreement

From: Mike Smith, Birkby, Huddersfield.

IN reply to John Turley’s letter (The Yorkshire Post, October 24), the reasons why 52 per cent of the electorate became disillusioned with the EU are no doubt many and various.

For that matter, probably many had more to do with domestic UK issues rather than anything emanating from Brussels.

He is wrong however on his final point where he states that some people incorrectly assume that use of the metric system is linked to our membership of the EU.

The ‘metric system’ amounts to substantially more than mere weights and measures and he is apparently unaware of the cost and disruption caused by the EU’s mandatory imposition of metric engineering standards regulating certain products serving the oil, gas and petrochemical industries, and there is nothing more global than those.

For decades the de facto international standards regulating those industries have been American, using Imperial units.

Action by the EU to supersede American standards with metric standards in the name of ‘harmonisation’ for those particular industries is a case of a small tail attempting to wag a large dog and at considerable cost to UK manufacturers. Like it or not, 1” diameter pipelines are here to stay for those hoping to continue trading in the big wide world even if some insist on calling them 25.4 millimetres!

Shame to break union

From: Paul Muller, Sandal, Wakefield.

THE European Union was set up to help the many different nations in Europe to come together in the production of coal and steel and to stop fighting each other. This eventually led to the largest economic union in the world, of five hundred million people.

The borders of the different nations had to be broken down and we can now shake hands across these borders and forgive each other for our past misdeeds.

We now have the free movement of people throughout our Europe.

There are many things wrong within Europe that need to be put right. To leave the European marriage is not the right way to do it.

Merry hell of early festivities

From: Barry Foster, High Stakesby, Whitby.

HOW refreshing it was to read David Blunkett’s wish to ban Christmas from shops until nearer December 25.

I hope this wish is granted. I personally am avoiding shops who have started with all the trimmings etc.

Surely they could all wait until after Halloween?

Of course we all hear those who are telling us we are no longer a Christian country yet they still wish to enjoy the Christian holidays.

If we are no longer such a country, then we ought to be able to enjoy all the holidays of other religions.

The commercialism of Christmas is, in my view, getting out of hand and is some respects quite nauseating.

One of my local garden centres was playing Christmas music in September.

Never mind, Easter Eggs are bound to be on sale in a week or so.