Lack of sense brings sad end for noble tree

I AM sure that I am not the only person to be horrified by the felling of that fine beech tree in the village of Irton despite a six-year battle by a commendable group of local objectors and supporters (Yorkshire Post, October 5).

We are told that the whole issue has cost £250,000. We are also told that the tree roots have been causing problems for the drains at a nearby house.

This is yet another example of the lack of common sense in local politics, for it must have been possible to repair/divert the said drains for a fraction of the above cost.

Had that happened, then there would have been no damage to the environment, part of which would have been a noble tree.

From: John Fraser, Vale Court, Bond End, Knaresborough.

ONLY God can make a tree but nothing can be gained from blaming him for the mess we are in over the 100-year-old tree in Irton.

My complaint is that those of the local authority, whether as paid employees or elected officials, should, as soon as possible, have foreseen the eventual cost of all the potential legal costs.

They should have come to some accommodation with the occupant, while going as far as possible to meet his needs but also giving equal consideration to all the other ratepayers who would have the eventual liability of having the large amount of legal costs involved added to their council tax bills.

Laurel and Hardy frequently used the expression: “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!” At least they were funny with it.

From: Eric Daines, Skelton, York.

WE all worry about the cuts to the police budgets. Is it not time the Government looked to be making some of these savings in other areas of the legal system, specifically the courts?

A quarter of a million pounds to decide if a tree should be felled or not. Someone is having a laugh and it is probably the fat cat lawyers. For that money, the tree could have been felled and 2,000 new trees planted.

From: Mike Gillson, Quarry Lane, Birstal, Batley.

THE reason given for felling the Irton beech was that it was causing problems to drainage systems and other underground facilities.

Given that the part of the tree that was removed was entirely above ground, one has to ask what is going to be done to that part of the tree that was at the root of the problem?

Missing the point on park

From: PD Marquis, Moorhead Terrace, Shipley.

IN the wake of the welcome news that Natural England has recommended that the Government should go ahead with the proposed extension of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, I was amazed to read that a number of diehard councillors are still bleating about “diluting the character of the Dales”.

This is particularly ironic when one of the proposed additions, the Howgill Fells, is remarkably similar in character to the main body of the Dales.

Surely, the really important thing is that another 160 square miles of largely unspoilt countryside are being taken into the stewardship of the National Park system, to the lasting benefit of residents, visitors and the environment.

To continue this petulant quibbling seems parochial in the extreme.

All the beautiful countryside in the extended park would be every bit as beautiful were it named “The National Park of Central Northern England”.

Weather eye on Pepys

From: Barry Raw, Fernhall Close, Kirk Sandall, Doncaster.

THE recent unusually hot weather, arrived at a time when I was reading A Shorter Pepys by F W Tickner. The following excerpts go to show that such things have been happening for centuries.

21 January 1661: It is strange what weather we have had all this winter; no cold at all; but the ways are dusty, and the flies fly up and down, and the rose bushes are full of leaves...

15 January 1662: It is a fast day ordered by the Parliament, to pray for more seasonable weather; it having hitherto been summer weather, that is, both as to warmth and every other thing, just as if it were the middle of May or June...

I won’t even try to come to a conclusion about global warming, but I feel there is some food for thought in Pepys’ words.