From rumble strips to shower units - you have your say (From Keighley News)

From rumble strips to shower units - you have your say

7:30am Thursday 9th July 2009

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Absurd sign on derestricted road

Re the recent changes to the speed limit in the Slack Lane/Slaymaker Lane/Cure Hill and Mackingstone Lane area of Oakworth.

When the proposal for these changes was posted, I wrote asking for one other stretch of road in the same area to be included. This is the road through the hamlet of Holme House to Goose Eye, which is a continuation from Mackingstone Lane.

My proposal was shelved.

This quarter mile section of road is the most hazardous of those listed above. It is the only one which passes through a narrow built-up area (Holme House) and the lower part between Holme House and Goose Eye is a particularly dangerous narrow, winding road.

It is extremely busy at morning and evening rush hours and there have been many minor collisions at Holme House. Near misses are a daily occurrence. The road carries all kinds of traffic throughout the day, including agricultural and commercial. It is on a bus route and is also used by horse riders from stables in the area.

I wonder if there is any other hamlet in the country where a speed limit of 30mph or even 20mph does not apply.

It seems utterly absurd that despite many years of campaigning by residents of Holme House, all we have to show is a “slow” sign painted on the road which remains derestricted.

Brian Lister,

Holme House Lane, Oakworth.

Loss of faith in Parliament

I buy the Keighley News every week and I have never felt the need to write to the letters page but I do now.

The remarks made in last week’s Keighley News by Ann Cryer MP left be angry and with a nasty taste in my mouth. How dare the MP say she’s “increasingly disturbed by the degree of nastiness” that’s now turned into a witch hunt and also wants to hold a debate to celebrate all the work done by MPs.

I’m sure all the hard working, taxpaying people would like the time and money to celebrate their hard work but, unfortunately, we are having to pay for the MPs expenses, having two homes, a duck house or a moat cleaned, and of course not forgetting all the money spent on trying to stop the expenses scandal. Does Ann Cryer not understand how the people who vote feel about this scandal, has she lost touch or does she not get it?

This country has had 12 years of New Labour. Me personally have lost all trust and faith in our Parliament and see them all as common robbers and cheats when our pensioners and families struggle to pay bills; and what hope is there for young people to find work? Yet this country keeps giving out aid to other countries. If we first helped the people of this country then of course give aid to others.

Perhaps Ann Cryer should change direction and be disturbed by how her fellow MPs act and I thank the journalist and paper.

Mrs K Earnshaw,

Nessfield Drive, Keighley.

Plan must ease problem

I agree with the sensible points made by George Speller. Obviously, it is essential to get traffic across the town as quickly as possible, bans on this, that and the other only encourage rat runs causing distress to residents. Parkwood Street, Glen Lea Lane are classic examples of what some of the townspeople have to put up with.

Any traffic plan for Keighley should be aimed at easing these problems, not making them worse.

R P Beale

Town Councillor Hainworth and Woodhouse, Ridgemount Road, Riddlesden

Less work done on homes

When the housing trust was introduced on the Braithwaite Estate their mandate was to improve the housing on the estate.

They even built a show house for voters to view. Future employees of the housing trust were there to show tenants and to explain what was planned for their house. People voted for the trust on the strength of this redevelopment. As part of the fifth phase of this redevelopment, it has come to my notice that each phase is getting less work done on their houses, but their rents have gone up just the same — an increase of £7 plus a week.

Examples of the reduction in work been done: Houses are not being wrapped and pebble dashed; inferior showers are being installed; less tiling in bathroom and kitchens, with hope that tenants will replace them with their own tiles, a very good way of cost cutting not very economical for tenants.

It makes me wonder that the merger of these trusts to Bradford Incommunities means that they are following in the path of Bradford Council and the money is now being diverted to estates in Bradford.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Ken Nicholson, director of Incommunities - development and regeneration replied: I can confirm the current £2.1 million improvements to 177 homes at Braithwaite and Guard House are being carried out to the same high standard as the previous works on the estate.

To date we have invested £9.5 million in improving local homes in the area.

These improvements have brought our tenants’ homes up to the Bradford Standard, a level in excess of the Government’s Decent Homes Standard. Following the work, customer feedback has shown that over 90 per cent have been happy with the works carried out.

In response to the reader’s specific points I would like to point out: l The work, which started in March, followed a detailed survey of each property and takes into account previous exterior improvements. These included dashing and wall insulation carried out pre 2003, when the properties were owned by the council, and also improvements as part of a local Single Regeneration Programme.

l With regards to shower units, we are now fitting single bath and shower mixer tap units (as opposed to a separate bath and shower unit) in order to meet forthcoming legislation on regulating bath water temperatures. The new fittings will also be easier to maintain causing less disruption for our customers.

l On all our home improvement works we are now fitting one row of tiles in kitchens with the exception of the area behind the cooker where we will still tile the whole area. There has been no reduction in tiling work in bathrooms. As a caring and responsible housing provider we are continually reviewing every element of our programmes in order to achieve best value.

Tarting up rumble strips

As a resident of the Parkwood district, I was surprised to see workmen digging on the rumble strips on Parkwood Street, as these strips are for the purpose of slowing down the traffic, especially at commuter times.

I thought that the strips were being removed to enable traffic to move more quickly which, in my opinion, would have been a big mistake as cars would use it like a race track to the danger of the pedestrians and children. As we had had no notification of this being done, I rang the highways department and was astonished when I was told that they were “upgrading” the strips — in other words, and I quote, “tarting them up a bit”. This operation involved a small JCB, five workmen, a wagon and 12 new plastic bollards.

Is this what we as taxpayers are paying for instead of more necessary work such as the adoption of the unadopted streets that are a danger to residents.

Mrs V Jarman,

Napier Street, Parkwood Street, Keighley.

Keith Escritt, Principal Engineer Traffic and Highways North - Keighley, said: “Contractors carried out the work on Parkwood Street to upgrade the rumble strips which were in a poor condition. The number of people and equipment used to carry out this work was down to the contractor and made no difference to the cost of the project.”

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