Get involved in festival earlier

I was only involved in organising the 2005 Haworth Arts Festival, so I can give impartial congratulations to this year’s team for pulling off another stunning and creative event under difficult financial circumstances. It is not a large festival and may not have the breadth of Saltaire or Hebden Bridge but it is always eclectic and for a small event with a small committee it strikes a good balance between supporting local talent and bringing “names” to the village for us to enjoy.

There has been criticism of the committee for deciding to tip the balance in favour of music this year, billing the event as Haworth Arts and Music Festival. Visual arts were not as well represented as in previous years and this has upset some. There are always things that can be done better and there are a lot of creative ideas “out there”.

To get those ideas into the festival people must get involved and do so at an early stage. The four day event takes a year to organise and anyone turning up at the last minute wishing to have their own work featured is naïve and bound to be disappointed. The group is not a closed shop, all views are considered and discussed and anyone can be involved and make an impact. Funding was tight this year and I understand that committee members may be dipping into their own pockets to meet contractual obligations to artists. After a year’s work for no reward it must be soul destroying to be accused of getting it all wrong. I hope there is a 2009 festival and that it continues to evolve; it would be a shame if a few problems and some criticism detracted from the overall success of this year’s event. Well done to all involved.

Andrew Wood Victoria Avenue, Haworth

A credit to their profession

I would like to add to the letter “Helping us live and die” in last week’s paper.

My sister-in-law was admitted to Airedale Hospital on March 14, of this year, she had total organ failure and was in ICU for the first while.

The nurses were so kind and caring not just to her but to my sister and I who spent as much time as we could there. Nights when her condition was really bad they even provided us with a room to get a few hours’ sleep. Tea, coffee and even toast was available to us.

Sadly my sister-in-law passed away on March 27 through no fault of the hospital. People who call the NHS should spend a day with the staff and see what they really do. They are a credit to their profession and don’t seem to get credit for all the good they do.

T Addyman, North View Terrace, Haworth

Kindness and generosity

I was so happy and grateful when I saw the letter in last week’s edition of the Keighley news defending my parents.

Both my mum and dad — George and Nanette Metcalf — have been involved in charity work for many years and it is about time they were recognised for their acts of kindness and generosity.

They have done so much for the Keighley Royal British Legion over the past eight or nine years.

I am so proud to call them my parents and hope that all of the British Legion members in Keighley will join me in thanking them both for their work, and wish them both all the happiness they deserve.

Sarah Metcalf address supplied

Good luck in the future

I am sure on behalf of the Royal British Legion Cllr George Metcalfe and his wife will not be smeared for their good works.

David Samuels can rest assured — on the contrary all the branch members have wished George, and Nanette and Sarah appreciation, good luck and best wishes for the future.

The Keighley branch will go ahead with new ideas and venues to further the future of the Keighley branch.

As our branch president Ian Wilson says in his letter to members: “I’m sure that all branch members will wish to thank George, Nanette and Sarah for all they have done for the Royal British Legion and this branch in particular, and wish them good health and good luck in the future.”

John O’Neill Social Chairman, Emily Street, Keighley

Apology for inconvenience

I write re the lack of appearance of officers from the regeneration department at the recent Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council meeting. Officers from the department have always been willing to consult and attend all such meetings and numerous neighbourhood forums in the past. It is unfortunate that the request to attend was not received until August 26, less than a week before the meeting and due to this short notice and the holiday season it was not possible to send appropriate officers to deal with the relevant issues as requested. It would appear, unfortunately, this message was not relayed to the clerk in advance of the meeting.

The council is aware of the parish council’s concerns over traffic generation in the area and now having received details of other issues for concern will provide the relevant officers for the next parish meeting in October. The council wishes to apologise for any inconvenience it has caused through non-attendance.

John Blackburn Assistant Director of Transportation and Highways

Balanced and equitable approach

When I saw Ted Evans’s letter concerning the latest round of controversy surrounding the Changegate Car Park in last week’s Keighley News, I thought he had completely missed the point of the debate.

So far as I, and I suspect the others who have become embroiled in Haworth’s latest clamping issue are concerned, the arbitrary penalty policies employed within the car park often appear to lack an awareness that our village’s staple industry is tourism.

It is ironic that Changegate Cark Park too is part of the village’s business community and, whether Mr Evans recognises it or not, it is generally a community that is still trying to come to terms with our country’s troubled economic situation.

Mr Evans asks why everybody is so exercised by this situation and why it attracts so much adverse publicity for his business? Well, I would have thought that was self-evident and when he says that he doesn’t see such high-profile reactions emanating from other similarly managed car parks: doesn’t that make him wonder why?

It’s all about those draconian penalty policies; its cause and effect. If other car parks also operate with clampers and don’t make the news, then it must follow that they are operated on a more equitable, logical and practical basis than in Changegate. Similarly, I was incredulous at his assertion that Haworth’s business community was trying to extract a “quick buck” out of the visitors. Given the high cost of being released from a clamp and the frequency in which the clamps are apparently being applied in Changegate Car Park, it could be argued that his business is one of those to which he refers in his letter.

As a parish council we have co-operated with and supported attempts to gain a more equitable approach to penalties within the Changegate Car Park but, in real terms we, the police and Bradford Council are virtually impotent because Mr Evans and his clampers enjoy the privilege of working within the framework of the existing but questionable regulations.

During the last few months we have been discussing with Bradford Council and the police the enhancement of existing council owned car parks within the Haworth area. Hopefully, the provision of such improved facilities, together with more effective signage, would make motorists aware that other parking facilities are available within the village.

I would also be very interested to see any evidence from the reported appeals procedure operated by Changegate Car Parks. Are their procedures publicly transparent and accountable; and who acts as the arbiter in such appeals? Even at a time when so many property developers are apparently targeting Haworth and causing great concern to the village’s inhabitants and visitors with increased residential building schemes, I suspect there would be great sympathy for Mr Evans’s suggestion to turn the Changegate Car Park over to housing, especially for the smaller type properties so badly needed by the younger people and senior citizens of our village.

All everybody is seeking is a balanced, equitable approach to car parking within a tourist area. Whether Mr Evans is prepared to listen to such an approach remains open to question. His letter to the Keighley News would suggest that he is not and, therefore, we do not seem likely to arrive at a solution to this thorny issue, which is a great shame.

CLLR JOHN HUXLEY Chairman of Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council