Sea defences will spoil look of resort

UNFORTUNATELY for Scarborough, Yorkshire’s premier resort, there seems to be a disturbingly unhealthy predilection for the act of reckless dumping, whether it is raw, untreated sewage in the past or as currently, in the proposal for a wholly unnecessary sea defence in the form of a mass of boulders at the Spa sea wall.

Once again protracted intransigence and the denial of simple facts manifests itself in the pursuance of forcing yet another monumentally flawed public works scheme onto the face of the town.

Anyone with the most basic grasp of secondary school geology could ascertain that cliff erosion behind the Spa is not a consequence of the effects of sea.

The quite obvious fallacy of this scheme would be laughable if it didn’t constitute such a permanent, irreparable threat to one of the very key tourism assets that Scarborough has so fortuitously inherited.

Scarborough’s combination of unique architectural heritage, outstanding beaches, dramatic seascape and associated wealth of history has such a potent allure for tourists from the UK and all over the world.

It is these unified and invaluable factors that places this unequalled Yorkshire resort in another league, far above any of its seaside rivals in the UK.

You would therefore not imagine that any plan that would dramatically blight the very nature of such invaluable economic resources would be even seriously considered, let alone vigorously promoted.

This proposition constitutes yet another woeful abandonment of common sense for the pursuit of financial expediency.

Just when is the degradation of Scarborough’s architectural heritage and reputation going to cease?

Potash mine fails to add up

From: Dr A J Houghton-Moss, Stonegate Road, Moor Allerton, Leeds.

I WISH to add some comments to the case of an application to mine potash in the protected environment of the North York Moors National Park.

The fact that York Potash Ltd had been given planning consent for trial boreholes did not in anyway imply that consent would be granted for full-scale mining operations.

Unfortunately for YPL, they did not appear to realise this. Such a permission would have set a precedent for similar activities in other national parks, and so there would have been little point in having them.

The product that YPL was intending to mine was polyhalite, a fertiliser that has an extremely small market in the UK (100,000 tonnes per annum) as it is only 25 per of the strength of muriate of potash (MOP) which is already mined within the national park at Boulby.

The proposed mine at Sneaton would, due to local geological conditions, have to be deeper than the one at Boulby to obtain an inferior product at a higher costs. Extra polyhalite production could be made at Boulby with lower economic and environmental costs.

Heritage inn under threat

From: Malcolm Toft, Windsor Avenue, Silsden.

BRADFORD’S most architecturally outstanding public house, the Cock and Bottle (Grade II listed building) situated on Barkerend Road, is under threat. Plans have been submitted for its conversion into a restaurant.

A licensed property has occupied the site from at least 1747. The inn was completely rebuilt about 1820 and the name Cock and Bottle first appeared in a trade directory for 1822.

During the 1860s reconstruction took place, doubling the size of the building. The extension housed what was then termed a dram-shop, to retail wines and spirits. Etched plate-glass windows were installed along with stained-glass, mirrors and elaborately carved woodwork.

Around the start of the last century refurbishment of the internal fittings took place. But since that time the pub has remained largely unaltered.

Under the ownership of Joshua Tetley & Son Ltd; that lost Leeds company, in 1984 the pub was designated a Tetley Heritage Inn.

More positive news needed

From: Don Burslam, Elm Road, Dewsbury Moor, Dewsbury.

FOLLOWING recent events, particularly in the United States, I would like to make a plea for more balance in reporting.

Yes, tragedy and disaster are a staple diet of our world and such events must be adequately covered without suppression of details however distressing.

The media, however, could temper all this doom and gloom with more positive stories such 
as the sterling efforts of charities in bringing the wonders of medical science to the Third World.

Unfortunately, as has been said before many times, disaster and crime sells so it looks as though we are stuck with this diet of grief and woe.

At least we can count ourselves lucky we don’t live in the US. To site such an obvious risk to life and limb in the middle of a densely populated town in Texas reflects very badly on them as does the obstinate obsession with guns.

True we had our Flixborough all those years ago, but I would like to think we have tightened up since then.