I FEEL I must reply to Clr Hardcastle’s unjust criticism regarding the relief road for Flockton (“Bypass dispute” Mailbag July 29).

I do not wish to enter into any arguments which are unhelpful to the electorate.

As a councillor for nine years my integrity has always been my byword. I have never in all my political career put anything in a leaflet that was untrue or could be misconstrued.

I have never quoted that the relief road was a foregone conclusion, but following the Green Party’s opposition last time to the bypass I wanted to ensure that the residents of Flockton were fully supportive of it.

1 The relief road feasibility study is under way.

2 My colleague Clr Christine Smith and myself hand-delivered the questionnaire regarding the relief road and all but two of the replies were in favour. If the relief road had already been agreed we would not have needed the questionnaire or consultation with the residents and we would now be celebrating success.

Is Clr Hardcastle now going to support myself and my colleague for the relief road and all the work that will entail?

Because the Green Party policy is not to build any more new roads how will he support the building of such a relief road?

Both Clr Smith and myself are available to discuss the matter with him at any time.

Clr Adrian Murphy

Kirkburton Ward

And now, 51 years ago . . .

I SEE the Flockton bypass is once more in the news (are there a few bob in the kitty for a feasibility study or are there not?).

I remember my wife and I setting off to drive to Spain on our honeymoon 51 years ago and that congested spot was the worst we encountered on the whole journey.

If nothing can be done in 50 years then it is time to put the matter to bed with the conclusion that nothing will ever be done.

Arthur Quarmby

Holme

They can’t be trusted

I MUST say that I support Lord Carey’s view when he writes of Max Mosley’s £60,000 award for damages for breach of privacy.

He said the ruling “had created a wholly new privacy law that would allow public figures to engage in unspeakable behaviour without fear of exposure. That if a politician, a judge, a bishop or any public figure cannot keep their promises to a wife, husband etc how can they be trusted to honour pledges to their constituencies and the people they serve.”

I don’t believe they can! Just a comment on the interesting letter by Sarah Jane Robinson, “Letter writer’s comments on gay people are so rooted in the 70s” (Mailbag July 24). Going back further than the 70s, in fact to the book of Genesis, we see that God made man for woman and woman for man and that, he saw that “it was good”!

Theresa Quarmby

Kirkburton

Super work from St John Ambulance

I WISH to thank some wonderful people, the St John Ambulance team. At the Galpharm Stadium on Saturday, before half-time, I said to my daughter, “I feel a bit sick”. Then I fainted.

When I came round two girls and two men from the St John Ambulance were bending down to me. They took me to their room and looked after me until the match was over, so I didn’t have to go out in the hot sun again. They kindly took my daughter, me and my niece to the car in the ambulance.

I can never thank them enough and would like to share it with your readers. I am Huddersfield born and bred and so are my family. Sadly I now live in Garforth to be near my family.

J Walker

Leeds

Splendid music-making

WE had the good fortune to attend a concert on Saturday evening by Skelmanthorpe Band at Shelley Village Hall.

It was advertised as a Big Band Night and that is exactly what we got.

The music was superb, the band looked as if they were enjoying themselves and the audience certainly did.

It was a lovely entertaining evening, so thank you very much Skelmanthorpe Band. I would like also to congratulate Shelley Community Association for their excellent facilities.

Rita Curry

Honley

More on our milestones

IT appears that Tony Ragona of Save Historic Heritage (Examiner July 10) has not been following reports about efforts to preserve and restore West Yorkshire’s milestones over the past eight years, as regularly and helpfully reported in the Examiner!

The Milestone Society was formally established in 2001 to raise public awareness of our local waymarkers and our members have been actively promoting this around the region.

Stan Driver, formerly the Kirklees Conservation Officer, was instrumental in obtaining a grant to enable the Kirklees Highways team to begin a project to systematically address the condition of our milestones, of which the restoration of the stoop by the Blacksmiths Arms in Kirkheaton was an example. Other examples include the railings and plaque at the listed Farnley Tyas stoop.

Milestones by the roadside are the property of the council’s highways departments (or the Government’s Transport Department on trunk roads) and so should not be “restored” without their knowledge and permission.

The society has produced guidance notes for restoration of milestones If you want to see the damage that a badly repainted cast-iron post can suffer look no further than the milestone by the Sculpture Park at West Bretton, smartly painted (with Dulux gloss?!) by Wakefield Council and rusty again within two years. Worse, the acidic rain gets behind the paint coating and corrodes the metal further.

The guidance notes on the recommended materials and methods, along with the history and locations of local milestones, may be found on our website, www.yorkshire-milestones.co.uk which was paid for by English Heritage.

If anyone would like to find out more about our activities come along to the next regional meeting, which will be held at Saddleworth Museum on Sunday, October 19.

Jan Scrine

Hon Treasurer, The Milestone Society, www.mile stone-society.co.uk

The EU and ‘democracy’

I WOULD like to commend both Peter Schofield and Bill Armer on their recent letters to the Mailbag column regarding the EU.

In 1975 I too voted to come out of the EU, even though the then Government’s voting paper was very loaded to remain in. Back in 1975 my opinion was that the price of remaining in the EU was far too high. In the present day we now have a Government which is turning the country into a dictatorship state, whereby “Yes you can” means “No you cannot”.

Maybe the reason for not allowing the public to have a free vote on the issue is that the wrong result for Brown would ensue. If that happened then we would probably go into a “best of three” vote. If that did not work it would then be “best of five” and so on, until the right vote for Brown was reached.

You have only to look at the recent Irish vote and Sarkozy’s ranting after the NO vote was announced. He was saying the vote was not acceptable and they had to re-think.

Talk about abiding by a free, democratic vote. This man should befriend Mugabe; they have a lot in common.

Every time we have tried to align ourselves to the EU it has cost the British public dear. We had decimalisation, gallons to litres and now we have the demise of the acre.

Slowly but surely the British way of life is being watered down and lost in a sea of EU legislation. Minority groups are also chipping away at the very fabric that is Britain.

Tony Blair was George Bush’s puppet now Gordon Brown is Nicolas Sarkozy’s puppet. Credit must be given to Blair as he knew the right time to abandon ship.

This Government will go down in history as the worst that has sat in charge of this country.

The end is nigh for this Government. The trouble is that by the time it comes the country will be bankrupt.

R J Bray

Shelley