Bunting ban that flags up lack of sense

WITH reference to your article about the banning of the Masham knitted bunting (The Yorkshire Post, June 20).

When asked by any medical team if I have any allergies, I am tempted to reply: “I’m allergic only to fools and those who lack common sense”.

This front page article has sent me into orbit, with its tale of the North Yorkshire County Council sending a cherry picker and team of workmen to remove some bunting.

Are you sure this is correct or is it a misplaced article for your April 1 edition?

May I suggest that the NYCC street lighting ‘engineers’ look at the design and specification of their lampposts.

Perhaps they should construct a roof cover over their lamp posts to protect them against ice and snow, if they are so close to design failure.

Have they done a weight 
test of the bunting, to calculate the addition of maybe “heavy water” on the miniature garments?

Have they lost sight of the millions of domestic clothes lines in the country, which support far more weight than the few small items in question?

Whoever put this removal action plan forward would seem to have little or no common sense, and even less technical knowledge.

I pity the poor enthusiastic, hard knitting ladies of 
Masham, and I charge you, Mr Editor to “go for the NYCC people” with a big journalistic stick.

Poor support
risks Tests

From: Howard Ray, Bramley.

I WONDER when the Yorkshire cricketing public, and in particular the Yorkshire members, will realise that their continued and quite frankly pathetic support for Test cricket at Headingley is only hastening the day when Test matches will be a distant memory in Yorkshire (The Yorkshire Post, June 21).

Yorkshire chief executive Mark Arthur deserves much credit for his efforts to make Test match cricket an attractive option to the Yorkshire public.

No need to
fear internet

From: David Treacher, Nelson Road, Hull.

MANY older people fear learning to use a computer, all their working life they have probably never used one or in their day learnt it at school.

But there are courses all over the country to enable older people to be able to use the internet, opening another world to them or being able to communicate quickly by sending an email.

In many cases these courses are free or available at a very low cost and do not take a huge amount of time.

Many people do not have a computer in their homes, but can use one often free at their local library or at the customer care centres of their council. Many would wish they had learnt years ago.

In praise
of phonics

From: Mrs EA Henry, Larchfield Road, Doncaster.

AS a retired infant school teacher, I agree with most of Jack Brown’s letter (The Yorkshire Post, June 24).

Some children do need phonics for years.

Children with a dominant visual memory need only to learn the names and sounds of the letters. Anything more is a waste of time.

Surplus letters should be abolished. Why write ‘could’ to say ‘cud’? I live in hope that the texting generation will simplify English spelling at last. Reform was first proposed over 400 years ago!

Store changes
not a success

From: John Hannett, General Secretary, Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers.

IT is a myth to suggest that extended Sunday trading during the Olympic Games was a success.

Your article on the incoherent attempt by Shipley MP Philip Davies to change shop opening times on Sundays reported the Government’s claim that a temporary suspension of Sunday trading regulations during the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games was a “success” (The Yorkshire Post, June 24).

Yet Usdaw’s survey of our reprsentatives in large stores that opened for longer during the Games shows that over two-thirds were quiet or empty and only five per cent were busy during the extra hours.

Many stores reduced their opening times after the first few weeks because they realised that opening for longer didn’t bring more custom, but did increase overheads and was therefore bad for business.

We oppose changes to the Sunday Trading Act because it is a fair compromise between competing views.

However, if there is to be a debate on the issue, it should at least be based on facts and not myths.

From: Ralph H Howard, Lightcliffe, Halifax.

In reply to Diana Priestley and aggressive sales calls (The Yorkshire Post. June 25) I find that if I pick up my phone and the line is not live I replace my handset immediately before it picks up any recorded message.

I do not know of any call of importance to me that I have missed by doing this.