Wednesday's Letters: Meddling with Yorkshire Dales will hit tourist industry

Members are owners of B&Bs, self-catering cottages, camping barns and caravan sites on farms in the countryside. I have read in the Yorkshire Post about the proposed changes, the possibility of extending the Yorkshire Dales National Park to include parts of Lancashire and Cumbria, and a suggestion that the name Yorkshire should be removed from the title.

My concerns are the following:

n People from all over the world know the location of the Yorkshire Dales. Therefore what would be the sense in including other parts of the country in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, ie, parts of Lancashire and Cumbria who have their own identity?

n The terms Yorkshire and Yorkshire Dales are proven and incredibly strong marketing brands. Welcome to Yorkshire, the agency responsible for marketing the Yorkshire tourism product, have told us how other areas of the UK envy the pulling power of the Yorkshire brand.

n The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a very important marketing tool for the Yorkshire tourism industry. Farm Stay members from East Yorkshire tell me that visitors who stay with them will often visit the Yorkshire Dales National Park during their holiday because it is a recognisable holiday destination. If Yorkshire is removed from the

Yorkshire Dales National Park title, visitors may no longer associate this as a preferred destination which could in turn reduce visitor numbers.

n A reduction in the number of tourists visiting the Yorkshire Dales National Park will have a knock-on effect on local employment, local attractions and local businesses that cater and rely on tourists for their livelihoods.

n All Farm Stay members also have connections with farming and

Yorkshire farmers are very proud of their heritage. Farming in the area is inextricably linked with visitors that come to enjoy the beautiful scenery and who identify it with the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

n The Rural Development Agencies, in our case Yorkshire Forward, work strictly on the county boundary of Yorkshire and therefore it would be very difficult to include other areas that have no connection with Yorkshire.

Those of us who live and work in Yorkshire and the Yorkshire Dales tourism industry do not take for granted the advantages and privilege of being part of such a beautiful and globally identifiable area.

The proposed name change is basically a rebranding exercise and a very bad idea.

It is not what I, or my colleagues in Yorkshire Farm Stay, want and I am most concerned about the detrimental impact this will have on tourism in the Yorkshire area and urge you to take notice of these concerns.

From: Rosemary Hyslop, Settle.

Top salaries completely out of control

From: Rick Sumner, Chair, East Yorkshire Eye, Cliff Road, Hornsea.

I WRITE about the incredible decision by the East Riding Council

Cabinet to pay Susan Lockwood the sum of 364,205 for taking early retirement.

It seems clear that the senior officers' salaries and conditions are completely out of control. I have absolutely no wish to make this a personal attack on Ms Lockwood but rather on the system which leading councillors have allowed to develop.

It is a fact that the East Riding Council accepts recommendations on these matters from Solace, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Officers. This seems incredible. Would the council allow Unison, for instance, to advise on pay and conditions for real workers in the organisation? I think not.

We were told last year that the authority had to pay these incredibly high salaries to attract and keep the very best people. Now they seem to be offering exceedingly high payments to encourage them to leave.

With regard to the post of director of corporate resources – will this position be filled after Ms Lockwood goes or will it be left vacant? If the latter, then what on earth were the duties of the post holder that now do not need to be carried out?

From: Andrew Allison, Blackwater Way, Kingswood, Hull.

JULIE Fisk (Yorkshire Post, March 19) hit the nail on the head. How can the Cabinet of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council justify awarding 364,205 to the pension fund of outgoing corporate resources director, Sue Lockwood?

The answer is they cannot, and shamefully the leadership never wanted taxpayers to know about it. The decision was made behind-closed-doors and since then the council has refused to discuss the matter further.

This is a discretionary payment, and the Cabinet can only justify this decision if there is a net benefit to the taxpayer.

The decision by the East Riding Cabinet is disgraceful, unjustifiable and immoral, and should be reversed.

Modified attitude

From: MP Stringer, King Street, Skelmanthorpe.

I FULLY sympathise with Ian Williams (Yorkshire Post, March 16). I was undergoing radiotherapy at Cookridge, Leeds, 22 miles from Skelmanthorpe, and I had to attend on 20 successive days. I had to drive there and back, feeling quite ill, and at considerable cost.

After one week I approached a well-known charity for some help. Just a couple of days not having to drive would have been very welcome.

My financial circumstances were skilfully extracted by the woman on the phone and the outcome was that, because I was on benefits, no help was available.

My family and friends rallied round, and I got through the ordeal. As can be appreciated, my attitude to that charity has been modified accordingly.

Reform of the Lords

From: RC Dales, Church View, Brompton, Northallerton.

GODFREY Bloom's article (Yorkshire Post, March 15) caused one to think again about the reform of the House of Lords. It can be conceded that the hereditary peers did a better job than the present lot. They were a mixture of characters, same as the public, were imbued with the spirit of serving the country, not themselves, and among them there was expertise on so many subjects.

But the time has come for a fresh start to be made, for a new-look Upper House to replace the Lords, but if we leave this reform to the politicians we shall have another weak chamber, another political cockpit, another refuge for cast-off Ministers, another gravy train.

The General Election gives the public the opportunity of requiring candidates to support a real reform of the Lords, one that reflects all walks of life, the members elected, but not at public expense, and no gravy train. Such a reform would result if every national organisation representing commerce, industries, all the professions, religions, environmental and sporting bodies, and others such as the Women's Institute and Rotary, were invited to elect a representative.

To avoid too many members, each organisation would be required to fund the membership and attendances of their members. So there would be expertise on any subject, a wide experience of life, no political infighting, and no gravy train.

The public have the opportunity of requiring every candidate to promise support for such a reform.

Debt that is still owed to the mining communities

From: JW Slack, Swinston Hill Road, Dinnington, Sheffield.

THE article by Sheena Hastings containing the comments of Professor Fothergill regarding the Public Accounts Committee findings on the success or otherwise of the regeneration of former pit sites (Yorkshire Post, March 15) makes fascinating reading.

Having spent all my life in Dinnington and having visited other

colliery villages through competitive sport, I conclude that the contribution that miners and steelworkers made during the Second World War has not been fully appreciated.

Victory depended largely upon producing some 200 million tons of coal per year to fuel industry and this continued well into the post-war period when coal was still urgently required.

Working conditions and pay left much to be desired but down the pit there was always the knowledge that everyone was reliant on each other for safety no matter how different personal views on life itself were.

The same loyalty manifested itself in brass bands, choirs, the St John Ambulance, the ARP and Home Guard and the men were backed by stay-at-home wives whose career involved bringing up children within the context of rationing. They were masters of recycling, cooking, and not many children stood out as being anti-social.

Post war, when the country was in a poor financial situation, the mines were nationalised, state ownership being welcomed by the miners who

were keen to have a greater participation in the industry.

Unfortunately, the ageing and often ailing workforce gradually

dwindled, insufficient money was forthcoming from Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation (CISWO) to maintain adequate leisure facilities, priority being given to health and pensions.

The effect of local government reorganisation in 1974 was that in South Yorkshire groups of local councils known to be disadvantaged were all spread among Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham, for example. The West Riding Education Authority warned schools as to what the consequences might be and so it has proved. The new councillors were not experienced enough to deal with the situation and, unfortunately, adopted, in some cases, a rather dogmatic interpretation of democracy.

When the pits closed, the damage had already been done over a period of one generation – almost two.

There is much to be done to regenerate the attitude of people – the descendants of people whose contribution to our nation's wealth and survival has never been adequately recognised.

Parking charges threat to shops

From: Keith Chapman, Custance Walk, York.

IN response to plans to introduce parking charges in many rural areas, when I have been to Masham and was able to park, I always used to leave something in what they called honesty boxes situated in the car park to put your donations in.

I thought as a visitor that one should contribute to the car park for the time one visits, although it would not be that often.

Local people, however, may think they should not be expected to have to contribute to charges for car parking, full stop.

I have been made aware that charges have been adopted in many places like Masham and in time no doubt village shops will close their doors to their community.

Poor behaviour in debates

From: Bob Heys, Bar Lane, Ripponden, Halifax.

AM I alone in noticing an increasing tendency in both radio and TV political discussion programmes for the panellists to talk over one another, and even the chairman, thus making it exceedingly difficult to follow the debate?

This behaviour has long been a feature of Newsnight but recently

reached new heights on BBC1's Question Time when even the imperturbable David Dimbleby had to reprimand those concerned.

Even the most eminent politicians are guilty, and one fears for the conduct of the three main party leaders in their forthcoming General Election debates.

It is surely time those chairing such programmes are provided with technology enabling them to cut off the offender in such cases.