Spending on nature wasted by building

From: Ken Brooke, Main Street, Leconfield, near Beverley.

AGENTS representing Natural England have been carrying out inspections in this part of the East Riding.

If our farmers have environmentally managed the land satisfactorily, and are signed up to this scheme, Natural England is responsible for paying out to our farmers 
and landowners nearly £400m each year.

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A few miles up the road, 
work has commenced building new homes on a greenfield 
site with other similar sites identified.

So we have the ridiculous situation of one government department paying out millions to our landowners to comply with Natural England’s advice 
to improve their land management for the benefit of wildlife, landscape, public access and other environmental purposes.

And another is encouraging, nay, forcing local authorities to cover prime farm land with bricks and cement.

One of Natural England’s remits is to ensure sustainable stewardship of the land and sea so that people and nature can thrive, and to see that England’s rich natural environment can adapt and survive intact for future generations to enjoy.

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I know that other areas are facing similar problems, with this situation.

What is certain is that wildlife will never flourish in these new concrete jungles, flooding problems will increase and the biggest certainty of all, is that once the land has gone, it’s gone forever.

Could anyone tell me what happened to the coalition’s promise of localism and listening to the views of local people?

Attack dog
not to blame

From: Elisabeth Baker, Broomhill Crescent, Leeds.

I WAS sorry to read (Yorkshire Post, August 20) about the 13-year-old who was attacked by a relative’s dog and hope that he makes a speedy recovery.

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A relative is reported as having been given the dog two days earlier and she said that she kept him outside.

She is also quoted as saying 
that the teenager had been teasing the dog in a bedroom where the boy was “jumping around” and had been getting the dog “worked up” by throwing seeds at him.

Why, if the dog was kept outside, did she allow the teenager and the dog to be together in a bedroom?

Even more surprisingly, why did she not stop the teasing of the dog and the throwing of seeds at him?

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Any responsible dog owner knows that such behaviour 
by any youngster has the potential to cause even the 
most “timid” of dogs (as she described him) to try to defend itself and to turn on its perceived attacker.

Sadly, there are only losers in this case, both human and canine.

So who did you cheer for?

From: Lewis Proll, Vesper Gate Mount, Leeds.

JOHN Riseley, writing from his North Yorkshire enclave, makes very clear his ill-will toward immigrants, immigration and
the politicians who have
allowed it (Yorkshire Post, August 16).

I had no idea that the down-at-heel, diverse borough of Harrogate was so much the bellwether of tension between
the new immigrants and the
old.

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It does make me wonder: consider the following champion sports people who have recently competed and won in British colours: Chris Froome (Kenyan born, lives in Monaco), Mo Farah (Somalian immigrant, raised in Britain since eight years old, spends much of the year in the US), Christine Ohoruogu (born and raised in the UK). Which of them did he cheer for?

It would be nice to think that he isn’t just another racist hiding behind legitimate concerns about immigration.

Rewarding failures

From: George Senior, West Cowick, Goole.

IT is now blatantly obvious that the Big Society of the three main political parties condone the disastrous practice of rewarding cancerous failures with the highest accolades.

Totally unaware that the consequences are that this country is entering into its final death throes. Exceeding by far the crass stupidity of Captain Smith. Full steam ahead. We are unsinkable.

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I am glad that I jumped ship onto Ukip because I much prefer people who call a spade a spade. Especially after 16 years of being increasingly deceived by smoke and mirrors.

Show’s debt
to pioneers

From: Karen Bullivant, Chairman, Mirfield Show Committee, Mirfield.

SOME of the comments in 
your otherwise excellent magazine feature about 
Mirfield Show’s 70-year history (Yorkshire Post, August 10) 
have been misinterpreted by some past members of the 
show committee, and I would like to apologise for any offence caused.

The existing committee has the highest regard for all the 
past pioneering committee members. In addition the 
article implied that the “rainy day fund” was a recent development when, in fact, it was started 
right from the first Mirfield Show in 1995 and has grown ever 
since then.