ON September 2, I noticed Keighley had an unusual level of police presence, presumably due to the inexplicable decision to allow the English Defence League to come here in order to stir up trouble before moving on to Bradford to do the same there.

That was early in the afternoon. A few hours later, the town had returned to its usual Saturday afternoon condition – boy-racers rev their deep-throated engines and screech their tyres among the legitimate traffic, up and down North Street as if preparing for a race. By that time, there was not a single police person to be seen; and, yet, this takes place every weekend of the year.

I wonder what effect the proposed modifications to North Street/Cavendish Street will have on this situation? Will it make it more difficult for the speedsters or easier?

I ask this because the approved changes are the final part of a process that will transform Keighley from a building-and-street-based town into a thoroughfare for cars, dominated by roads not pedestrians.

Bradford is a very good example of a city that spoiled itself by reorganising around a supposed rapid transport road system, and Bradford is where a lot of decisions about Keighley are made.

It used to be a fundamental principle of town planning that the main concentration of road traffic should not be routed through the centre because of the detrimental impact this has on the individual character of a place. What has changed – the laws of town planning or the lawmakers in Bradford?

When the Aire Valley road opened, it immediately reduced the quantity of traffic through Utley to sensible levels. A serious solution to Keighley’s traffic problem, one that would continue to be effective for years to come, has to depend on by-passing the town centre.

The powers-that-be are too timid for this; too short-term in their thinking.

Am I too naïve in imagining that soon there will be a policeman standing on a box waving his arms about on a busy roundabout between Keighley Library and the Town Hall Square, keeping an eye on things?

Finally, I ask you, even you car-owners, whether you think of yourselves as motorists or as pedestrians? Your answer could make a big difference to how the town is designed for the future.

CHRISTOPHER ACKROYD Bethel Street, East Morton