Adverse publicity has been attracted by Ted

Having read the KN for nearly 40 years, I can’t think of another story in that time which has made me as incredulous as your lead article from last week’s edition, on Ted Evans claiming it was the traders within Haworth not opening during the week which was causing a drop in the number of visitors to the village.

The irony in that statement alone made me laugh out loud, certainly not at the challenges facing the traders but at the brass neck of someone who has single-handedly attracted more adverse publicity for the village of Haworth in the media across the country than any other event or individual I can think of.

I think it was very generous of Ms Presley to state it was the recession which was the main issue for the traders, while the actions of Mr Evans were a secondary factor. On balance I think she is probably right. However, if I were a cynic then I can only assume Mr Evans is also suffering the effects of the recession and seen his takings significantly decline.

I hope the Keighley News continues to report all the good things about Haworth which no doubt Ms Presley and the Traders Association will continue to work hard on. Likewise, please continue to quote Mr Evans as the comedic value of what he says is priceless. For the record, can I state that I have never been clamped by Mr Evans or any other similar nefarious group or individual.

I am merely writing as a previous resident of a village which has had to put up with the actions of Mr Evans and his associates for longer than any of us care to think about.

John Normington

High Banks Close, Riddlesden

Village has so much to offer

We have two businesses on Main Street, in Haworth, Cobbles and Clay The Art Cafe and Daisy Days, boutique flowers and design led gifts, and both businesses are open seven days a week 9-5, 363 days a year.

We work hard at keeping the tourists and local customers happy by offering a cheerful and reliable service, regardless of takings, weather, clamping and the recession.

At no point have we found visitors to be “lookers not buyers” which may we add is their prerogative and it is negative comments like this which are giving this lovely village a poor reputation!

There is an abundance of things to do here in Haworth, whether it be having a meal, paint a pot, ride the steam train, visit the museum, walk the walks or shop locally.

Most of the businesses do open regularly and for those who make the effort to come here, we make the effort to open.

Haworth has so much to offer, from the 1940s weekend to the Christmas festival, which runs all through December, all of which is self-funded. We make the best of what we have here and don’t rely on council funding.

So if your stuck for something to do ... REMEMBER, there is no such thing as the wrong weather here ... just the wrong clothes.

Jill Ross and Ruth Wild

Not a consultation on car parking charges

Consultation is the buzz word these days.

This usually entails listening to the parties who stand to gain from an “initiative” and ignoring those who stand to lose.

So it is with little confidence that I note that there is to be a consultation about the parking charges threatened for Keighley’s most important trading areas.

Not, of course, a consultation about whether this raid on our tenuous prosperity will actually take place — that appears to have been decided for us – but a consultation on how the charges will be made.

That is to say: Will ticket machines be installed or will they install machines that issue tickets?

Thanks a bunch, Bradford. And special thanks to the assistant director of Regeneration and Culture, John Blackburn. Are you sure you got that job title right? Are you sure he didn’t say “assistant director of Degeneration and Vultures”?

George Speller

Hill Top Road, Keighley

Outraged at cost of referendum on voting

I am outraged that millions of pounds are being wasted on trying to change the way we vote at a time when everything else is being cut.

Most of us are worried about school class sizes, hospital waiting times and having enough police to fight crime, but the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, has decided the voting system should be the priority.

The referendum on the Alternative Vote in May will cost £90 million alone.

If approved many millions more would be spent on an advertising campaign and machines to count votes.

It seems to me the only people to benefit from such a change would be Mr Clegg and his party, who could expect to pick up a few more seats.

Ask yourself, how many new school places could this fund? How many extra hospital operations? How many police officers? The list goes on.

I would urge anyone who thinks this is not on to join me in voting No on May 5.

Glen Miller

The Chase, Keighley

Mp's claims have a hollow ring

Kris Hopkins’s claims to have protected the voluntary sector have a hollow ring. As council leader he wrote to other political groups with budget proposals, including cuts of 10 per cent to the sector long before the council faced cuts on the current scale. He failed to implement his proposals because he couldn’t get sufficient support from other political parties to get them in the council’s budget.

Rather than him protecting the sector, the truth is that others had to protect it from him.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles asked councils to ensure that voluntary sector cuts don’t exceed the cuts that they are having to make themselves. Bradford Council loses 8.8 per cent next year and faces a shortfall of £80 million so difficult decisions have had to be made. Unlike some councils, Bradford has not adopted a slash and burn approach but has limited reductions in line with those handed down from Government, keeping them lower than Mr Hopkins’s previous proposals.

The council is in constructive discussions with the sector over how the cuts can best be implemented. Over time the sector may well benefit from increased commissions. If he is so concerned about the scale of the Government cuts imposed on his constituents, perhaps Mr Hopkins’s time would be better spent asking George Osborne why, when Bradford and Keighley face cuts of 8.8 per cent, the local authority in his own constituency loses only 1.6 per cent?

Cllr Doreen Lee

Labour, Keighley East, Southlands Road, Riddlesden