YP Letters: Tunnel vision is no bad thing for Leeds

From: James Bovington, Horsforth, Leeds.
When will public transport in Leeds be sorted out?When will public transport in Leeds be sorted out?
When will public transport in Leeds be sorted out?

I ECHO your calls for Leeds to be forward-looking, independent and visionary in tackling the inadequate state of public transport in our city, but for once, what is required is tunnel vision.

In both senses. City centre rail tunnels, in our own version of London’s Crossrail, would vastly improve the network and give direct passenger access to major traffic objectives such as Quarry Hill and the Southbank as well as freeing valuable space at Leeds Station.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In the sense that having tunnel vision means being single-minded and, in this case, refusing to countenance inferior solutions, then tunnel vision to build the rail tunnels is what is required so that the ‘Motorway City’ of the 70s can become the ‘Metro City’ of the 20s.

Leeds has the stated aim of becoming the ‘best UK city to live in by 2030’. To do so it needs to radically improve local public transport.

Rather than spending vast sums on shortening journey times to destinations further away like London or Manchester, investment should focus on improving the daily lives of all who live in the city and making Leeds itself the key destination for all living in the city region.

At present our city’s traffic problems are more than just an inconvenience, in fact, the ongoing traffic nightmare appreciably worsens 
quality of life and, in many 
cases, public health.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Yet a Metro-style system isn’t even on the radar for the unimaginative local transport planners.

I want to see an underground railway at least in inner Leeds, with an expanded and fully electrified local rail network possibly supported by trams in my lifetime and I’ll be 60 in 2020.

If the local councillors and their timid planners can’t deliver what other cities (Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow) take for granted, make way for someone who can.

I’ll be retiring in a few years.

From: Terry Watson, Adel.

KEN Clarke was responsible for introducing speed humps to Britain and admitted it was an awful mistake.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Leeds City Council has ignored his mistake and has given priority to these monstrosities, giving the motor trade full-time work repairing damaged cars.

No thought is given to the fact that our roads are so badly potholed that we do not need any traffic calming measures

No thought is given to the emergency vehicles whose response times are increased by 10 seconds for every speed hump they have to drive over.

I have just paid £300 for three broken springs which were only discovered in the MoT check.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I have been driving with a faulty vehicle, unaware of this condition.

The mechanic confirmed that the damage he is constantly repairing is due to potholes and speed humps, and he had three more vehicles to repair after mine. How many more vehicles are being driven with faulty steering suspension and wheel damage, with owners unaware of the problems?

Outsourcing chaos for GPs

From: Dr Richard Vautrey, BMA GP committee chair, Leeds.

AMID the longstanding chaos caused by the outsourcing of GP support services – as clearly exposed by the recent National Audit Office report – here is another damning indictment of NHS England’s inability to deliver basic administrative efficiency in back-office systems (The Yorkshire Post, June 6).

Given the ongoing confusion and lack of effective communication, it is regrettable yet understandable that some practices may have, in good faith, sent misdirected correspondence on to PCSE (Primary Care Support England).

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

This would have been the arrangement before NHS England tried to cut costs by commissioning PCSE services to Capita two years ago.

Ever since the scale of the problem became clear, the BMA has been pressuring NHS England to get an action plan in place, including a guarantee of proper funding for practices to deal with the resulting increase in workload.

However, if NHS England had managed the situation properly then it would not have needed to spend £2.4m resolving the issue, and this could have been money instead spent on patient services and practices struggling with workloads and bureaucracy.

Overall this report underlines the need for NHS England to get to grips with a problem that has been disrupting general practice for years, and to introduce an effective system that guarantees safe and efficient care.

Last chance rail saloon

From: John Appleyard, Firthcliffe Parade, Liversedge.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I USE the railways as they are my favourite mode of transport and I am embarrassed to say it, but the network is becoming seriously flawed. In West Yorkshire we have had a long running dispute on safety due to management wishing to remove guards, and there seems very little interest in trying to resolve this with the trade unions. Timetable changes have led to unacceptable delays and cancellations and now rail passengers are to be asked whether we wish to pay more for a better service – or less for a worse service.

I agree with the thoughts of Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, when he says train operator Northern is in the last chance saloon and train commuters in the North should get ‘substantial compensation’ for this fiasco along with the removal of Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.