Friday's Letters: Decision to protect green belt to be applauded

For too long, the precious green spaces that surround our towns and cities have been under threat. The last administration appeared to have a mania for concreting over the stretches of land that act as the lungs of our urban communities, producing a blizzard of meaningless figures that appeared to demonstrate the need for vast new housing developments to address alleged shortages of stock, while conveniently ignoring the fact that the parlous state of the economy meant houses were standing empty and that leading developers had stopped work on new estates because there was simply no demand for them.

Our region has been blighted by urban sprawl in recent years. One only has to look at Leeds and Bradford; where once there was a clear delineation between the two cities, now they are as close as conjoined twins, thanks to the building that has seemingly occupied every available square foot of land.

It is heartening that Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, has seen the folly of this endless drive to build on Green Belt land. The protests that so often accompany proposals to develop on greenfield have been unjustifiably condemned as a product of the "not in my backyard mentality".

They are no such thing; rather, they are deeply felt and sincere objections to the loss of green space that is an irreplaceable and

often historic part of the landscape.

Centrally imposed targets were one of the courses of the Labour government; Mr Pickles is right to assert that it should be councils who make decisions on where new buildings are permitted. Those bodies are closely in tune with their communities, and their members accountable to the people who live in them. This is a formula for sensible and sensitive planning decisions.

If there is a shortage of housing, the answer lies not in building houses that people cannot afford, or do not want in the countryside. Is it not time for a fresh look at the existing housing stock in towns and cities?

Drive or walk through any of our urban communities and one will see empty homes above shops, derelict buildings that can be reclaimed and made attractive once again, and blocks of flats thrown up during the boom years but which now stand empty.

Innovative thinking to bring such housing stock into use and make them affordable homes will, in the long term, be more productive as well as cost-effective, than concreting over our green belt.

From: Roger Martin, Beverley Road, Hull.

Hypocrisy over Laws's downfall

From: Alan Chapman, Beck Lane, Bingley.

THE report of David Laws's shock resignation as Treasury Chief

Secretary (Yorkshire Post, May 31) due to a 40,000 expenses

discrepancy exposes the total hypocrisy of the Liberal Democrat General Election campaign. Many cash-grabbing MPs were chopped for much less.

Had this "fiddle" been in the public domain three months ago, Laws may not have been a candidate in Yeovil, where the electors may still have rejected him at the ballot box. His vote would certainly have been smaller.

Had Laws not been caught, this deception would have continued

indefinitely or until his parents' death, as he did not want to tell them about his sexuality.

Sickeningly, some coalition partners plan to get him reinstated even though he is a benefits cheat. Would this apply to a common man?

The Liberal Democrat leader's sanctimonious aspiration that his candidates were the incorruptibles and he was the white knight leading the expenses clean-up campaign, and consequently the entire country should vote accordingly, now appears to the the biggest con trick of the General Election.

The Lib Dem vote could have been five per cent lower. What national result then?

From: David H Bond, Nunns Croft, Featherstone, West Yorkshire.

NOW that the dust has settled (or has it?) and we have a coalition Government of the Tories and the Liberals, why is anyone surprised that the Liberals supported the Tories?

In 1910, the Liberals in coalition with the Tories sent the military into South Wales to shoot the miners – something similar to what we witnessed in Featherstone in 1893.

History records that Keir Hardie, founder of the Labour Party, referred to this in his election address when he called Churchill a hypocrite and then went on to say: "A Liberal Government is first and foremost a Capitalist Government." How true it was then and how true it is now. Nothing changes – Liberal supporters watch out.

Special free ingredients

From: Mrs Beryl Armistead, Green Park Avenue, Cayton, Scarborough.

WHAT a joy to read the article on Jesper Launder and his salads for free (Yorkshire Post June 1). I have been dabbling in such things for many years. I recall one summer day, when our three children were small, we had them in a caravan at the seaside for a week, and having got us all there, our money would not stretch to buying much more.

As Dad watched them, on the beach, I walked back to the site to prepare the evening meal. The stew was simmering as I wondered what I could add for a bit more colour, and then a light flashed on – dandelions!

I carefully chose a spot and gathered a good handful.

The meal was a great success and some wanted seconds. As we then relaxed, and chatted, I casually asked if they'd liked the greens. "It wasn't spinach, was it?" asked my son, who reckoned he hated those I grew. "Oh no," I replied. "I wouldn't give you spinach, they were dandelions."

The children looked accusingly at me, as if I were a murderer, but they did eventually accept my odd ways and I didn't even mention, till some years later, that occasionally nettles were on the menu as well.

I now grow two dandelion plants especially for the kitchen, as well as lots of herbs, for my drinks, and lots of the cut and come again lettuces, which seem to last months. You can cut them all off and they will still grow again.

I grow a little wild garlic, too, pulled, with permission, from the grounds of a retreat centre we stayed at. They thought they were Lily of the Valley!

Thanks, as ever, for an excellent newspaper.

Words of solace

From: Eric Wallace, Manor Road, Beverley.

Every time I hear of another young soldier's death in Afghanistan, I feel a sense of inadequacy because there is nothing tangible that I can do for the dead soldier or his or her relatives.

There are, I'm sure, many like me and it may be that they, too, would find solace in reading the First World War poem Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen. Reading it may help those who have never experienced the appalling results of war to at least empathise with those who have.

Fresh thinking needed to revive our economy

From: Dr K Swann, Summerdale, Gomersal, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire.

THE last decade or so has shown that we need a very different approach to our economy that will enable us to find our own solutions to the many challenges facing us such as a massive fiscal deficit, climate change, an ageing society and global security.

This will give us a much better chance of paying our way in the world, creating jobs, generating wealth and raising living standards.

Manufacturing will not provide all the answers but there is now an emerging consensus that productive high value sectors with greater export potential must play a greater role in a rebalanced economy. The question is how we get there.

The last 18 months have already forced governments around the world to adopt previously unthinkable measures such as bank bail-outs and quantitative easing.

We now need to apply this mindset to promoting economic growth while, at the same time, reducing the deficit. This will not be easy. Changes are easier to implement in crisis than in other times, however.

As well as seeking to reduce waste and improve efficiency, government must also work more closely with industry on issues such as taxation and regulation, with the aim of providing stability and transparency. Working with business on these issues will not only encourage investment but give a clear message on overall direction of travel.

As well as a different approach to our economy, we need a change in government culture. The constant chopping and changing of government ministers and Whitehall departments is incompatible with consistent policy-making and creates uncertainty for business. Some policy areas have undergone a multitude of changes producing complex and

unpredictable systems in areas such as skills and taxation. There must now be minimal changes to the machinery of government and policies must be given time to bed in.

The first 100 days of the new Government will have long- term implications for our ability to generate growth and prosperity while addressing major challenges. Business needs to hear how the new Government has the fresh thinking needed to meet these challenges.

EU 'benefits' we can do without

From: D Wood, Thorntree Lane, Goole, East Yorkshire.

LINDA McAvan's letter (Yorkshire Post, June 1) extols the virtue of our EU membership by highlighting some of the supposed benefits. These

being cleaner beaches – we can have those without the cost of EU membership; the airlines paying expenses for a once in a blue moon occurrence – surely we can arrange that without the EU, too; cheaper phone calls and texts – again, we should be able to work that out for ourselves and the same goes for human organs.

As for the EU paying for the carbon capture programme, this is merely our own money being spent, as we are net contributors to the EU. This is, of course, money being wasted, as our carbon emissions are well

and truly dwarfed by those of China, India and the United States and ultimately will make no difference.

If this is the best that the EU has to offer us (everything Ms McAvan claims to be of benefit we can do better and cheaper for ourselves), then it is time to have a national referendum on leaving the EU and not a debate about its non-existent benefits

to Britain.

A true friend with history

From: John Blakey, Park Villas, Leeds.

SO Ted Bromund says (Yorkshire Post, June 2) "it should be an embarrassment to all concerned that only 32 per cent of Britons identified the US as the nation that would come to its aid first if it was attacked".

Perhaps the other 68 per cent remember the last time we were attacked back in 1939. Did the US come to our aid way back then? If memory serves me right, it only did so remarkably slowly, and reluctantly.

We were still paying the loans back until the early 21st century. The US remained neutral until 1941. Indeed, Hitler had to declare war on the US before she declared war on Germany.

Moving tribute to air crews

From: Philip Welch, Hull Road, York.

SOME days ago I arrived by chance at the quite remarkable memorial to the Bomber Command Air Crews of 158 Squadron at RAF Lisset, near Driffield.

With the accompanying text and display it is well worth a diversion on the A614 at Burton Agnes. Go at sunset and be prepared for a very moving experience.