Differing views over the community ‘hub’

Steeton-with-Eastburn Bowling Club has a pavilion perfectly-centred and facing the green.

It has windows all along one side of the building, giving a perfect view of the green so matches can be observed when it is raining. Inside, the clubhouse has tables and chairs with room for a pool table.

The kitchen is well appointed with fridge, freezer, cooker, crockery and cutlery, enabling the bowlers to welcome visiting teams, have a party or coffee morning. The interior was decorated by the members.

The parish council decided it owned the pavilion as it had previously been owned by Bradford Met and promptly restricted the use of it to the bowlers. However, it let the building to outsiders even though they owned none of the contents.

The village was left a legacy which went towards the building of the monstrosity which now stands in a corner of the green. I cannot imagine the donor would be best-pleased to learn of the use to which the money had been put.

One room, with no facilities, has been allocated to the bowling club for a year. The club has invested a lot of money over the years to the pavilion but no recompense has been offered for the contents when the Council destroys it.

The parish council has shown contempt for the bowling club and village by erecting the hideous building known as the ‘Hub’. It looks like an industrial depot and is completely out of keeping with its surroundings.

J EVANS, Skipton Road, Steeton

  • The parish council responds: I can only describe the above letter as a confection of misinformation.

The pavilion adjacent to the bowling green in Steeton is owned by Steeton with Eastburn Parish Council and it is for the use of the whole community of the two villages. The bowlers have a licence to use the building for seven months in the year – their use is exclusive for that period The writer of the letter should not be venting their anger against the parish council, they should focus it firstly on the inadequacies of the old building and secondly on the bowling club’s decision to take little interest in the consultation about the new building.

The old pavilion provides inflexible accommodation – being essentially a single space it can only be used by one user at a time. This has misled the bowling club to develop misplaced sense of ‘ownership’ and the community to understand the building is not available for general use.

Driven by the parish-wide questionnaire in 2006, leading to the Parish Plan 2008, the parish council set-up a working group three years ago to consider the possibility of replacing the old building and the potential design of a new one. The group included a representative of the bowling club as well as members of the public. The bowlers’ contribution to the consultations was scant to say the least.

Nevertheless the new building will offer the bowling club a meeting room, with access to WCs and access to the kitchen. The new building also offers a small number of car park spaces. The new building meets accessibility criteria, it is energy efficient, it is resistant to anti-social behaviour, and it is flexible enough to support several user groups simultaneously. Furthermore the benefits of the new building are being provided at no capital cost to the club.”

Rising costs for taxi drivers is ‘just a joke’

It’s now becoming more profitable stealing taxis in Bradford Met than running them.

On top of an initial outlay of about £8,000 for a newer car, Bradford Met Hackney Carriage Department, which is supposed to be a non-profit making organisation, wants – £275 taxi test, £30 MoT, £135 operator’s licence, £81 badge, £65 CRB, £89 public liability insurance, £1,500 car insurance and now £18 DVLA mandate, which means to check your licence.

I’ve taken the same licence to Shearbridge Road for 28 years and now they want to charge for validating it. It would be a joke if you didn’t have to work about 80 hours a week to find the money. This must break health and safety rules.

It’s time the 1,000 taxi drivers in Bradford Met made a protest. We’re easy targets. It wouldn’t be necessary if they targeted the criminal element. Next stop bankruptcy.

JAMES HOLMES, Braithwaite Road, Keighley

  • A Bradford Council spokesman said: The Council’s Hackney carriage and private hire department is a non-profit making department and charges fees to cover its statutory obligations. It charges £175 for taxi testing to ensure vehicles are safe for public use and £44.50 for CRB checks.

It has introduced a £6 per year validation check of driving licences to ensure drivers are legally licensed. MoTs and motor insurance costs have nothing to do with local authorities and public liability insurance is required by all businesses which provide access to the public.

Use money to pay for more police officers

I write in the connection about the proposal of a ‘crime commissioner’.

I received the leaflet, although it gave you a “little” about it, there was no information about these people and what qualifications they had to hold this position. Oh yes you can get a little information about it on the computer, but not everybody is ‘computerised’.

Wouldn’t it be better for the Government to employ more policemen – £100,000 a year would put a lot more police officers back on the streets.

Secondly one hundred thousand pounds would be better spent doing the old college up for a number of things including a police station as the one for out of town is in my opinion too far out.

And finally while everybody is having to cut back where is this money coming from?

J DEVINE, Staveley Road, Ingrow, Keighley

‘Appalled’ by idea of a police commissioner

I have just returned home after a couple of weeks away and see we are soon to elect a police and crime commissioner.

I am appalled at this as I seem to remember about a year ago we had a referendum question added to a local election ballot, and West Yorkshire emphatically decided not to have a police commissioner. Police authorities have worked well for us and I say, “if it ain‘t broke, don‘t fix it!” Why did the Government ask us to vote on this issue, if the result has no bearing on what is going to happen?

My own view is that there should never be political control of the police. And if we appoint a commissioner, we are effectively creating a rank above that of Chief Constable which would be political.

JENS HISLOP, Haworth, (West Yorkshire police constable 1961–1991)

Bonfire alert over pets

Fireworks may be beautiful and exciting for us, but for animals they can be terrifying.

Cats and dogs are reduced to fearful, shivering wrecks, sheep can spontaneously abort, horses gallop into fences and rabbits have been known to die from the shock.

However, there are steps we can take to minimise their suffering. Firstly, please consider attending a public fireworks display rather than setting them off in your back garden. One central display will scare fewer animals, and is likely to be set further away from homes and their animal inhabitants.

Keep cats and dogs indoors from the afternoon onwards and bring rabbits and guinea pigs inside as well (or at least cover their home with a thick blanket to muffle the noise). Also, be sure to check that hedgehogs and other wild animals have not made a home in your bonfire before you light it.

Have a happy, and safe, fireworks night!

ASHLEY OWEN, Animal Aid, The Old Chapel, Bradford Street, Tonbridge, Kent