YP Letters: Cycle track's potential is going to waste

THERE have been critical letters about the poor condition of the Scarborough-Whitby Cinder Track (The Yorkshire Post, September 15 and 16).

I live close to this route and use it for walking and cycling. It is in need of serious improvement. The surface has been eroded, it is badly drained and there are sections I avoid because they are rough and hazardous.

It has been in the care of Scarborough Borough Council for many years. They have shown little enthusiasm for improving it as a community asset or developing its tourist appeal.

For some time, it has been designated as part of Sustrans National Cycle Route No. 1, which runs from Dover to the far north of Scotland. In this, it has an important tourist function and I have spoken to visiting cyclists from this country and abroad who are appalled at the unwelcoming, sub-standard condition of this track and its poor signposting.

Sustrans are now making proposals for the improvement of the route which have already met with instant opposition.

It is scaremongering to say that they will destroy the appeal of the Cinder Track by removing trees and that it will become a speedway for cyclists with an improved surface.

Trees and bushes should be kept back to give good sight lines along the pathway, both for views outwards and to protect vulnerable users, such as single women and children, from prowlers and other opportunists

Despite its faults, the track is popular with locals. It has more potential as a tourist attraction and this should not conflict with local use.

Sustrans have the skills and expertise to establish well formed, safe and attractive off-road routes that appeal to many users: cyclists, walkers, tourists, families and the handicapped. They should be given a fair chance by the local people to present their plans.

From: Henry Doyle, Northallerton.

HOW about the profits from the Tour de Yorkshire being used to upgrade cycle routes in the county like the track from Scarborough to Whitby? Isn’t this the purpose of Welcome to Yorkshire hosting such events?

Attack on democracy

From: Coun Gerry Barker (Con), Wharfedale Ward, Bradford Council.

I REFER to your recent article regarding the hard-left Momentum Group looking to unseat popular Conservative MPs.

The members of this group comprise mainly of people with connections to either Militant Tendency, the Workers’ Revolutionary Party or the Communist Party. Their aim is in their name.

I have canvassed all over Shipley constituency and can state that, although Labour supporters do not agree with Philip Davies’s political views, they do not deny that he is a very good constituency MP, promptly responding to letters and emails and fighting for their causes.

Philip Davies has often said he has no political ambition, he just wishes to remain a backbencher and work for the members of his constituency. The only other present-day politician who has a similar record of standing up and voting against his own party on principle is Jeremy Corbyn, darling of the Momentum group!

Philip Davies works hard for the Shipley constituency and to have a jumped-up zealot like Owen Jones state to the contrary shows how little he knows of constituency issues and affairs.

He refers to Philip Davies as a bigot, whereas it is he and his hard-left friends who are the bigots, trying to usurp democracy to meet their own ends. It saddens me greatly to see such unpleasant tactics entering the political arena.

Clarity over war dates

From: Elisabeth Baker, West Yorkshire County Chairman, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, Leeds.

IT was gratifying to read (The Yorkshire Post, September 18) that the Queen’s Own Yorkshire Dragoons have not been forgotten and that their memorial in Doncaster Minster has been restored and will be re-dedicated next year.

But reference is made to the puzzlement of some of those involved about the fact that the dates of the First World War are given on it as 1914-1919, and the explanation which they have tracked down is, they say, because some of the men died in 1919 in the influenza pandemic.

In fact, the real reason why 1919 is give as the end of the war is because November 11, 1918, was only the Armistice, which brought hostilities to an end. The war itself was not officially over until the Treaty of Versailles the following year.

Devolution for the people

From: Stewart Arnold, Leader, Yorkshire Party.

FOLLOWING the effective collapse of the City Region in South Yorkshire, we are delighted that common sense has prevailed (The Yorkshire Post, September 19).

Now we have the opportunity to properly consider what we want a One Yorkshire devolution settlement to look like and how we can create modern, prosperous, democratic devolution for the whole county.

A One Yorkshire settlement is good news for places like Hull, Bradford and other large cities, as well as for the smaller towns and the countryside. The whole of Yorkshire should be able to share in whatever benefits devolution will bring.

It is vitally important that this next stage engages the people of Yorkshire who, so far, have been excluded from the debate.

Twenty years ago, to the day, the Welsh people voted for devolution. This followed a long period of debate involving all parts of the country and all sectors of society. We need nothing less than the same in Yorkshire.