AS grandparents of Pte Anthony Thomas Frampton may we express our sincere thanks to our local football club, Huddersfield Town.
We were invited by the club to be on the pitch side for the one minute’s silence held for Anthony and his comrades so tragically killed in Afghanistan.
We were met at the club reception by Ann Hough who led us to the directors’ room for tea and sandwiches.
There we were introduced to Barry Sheerman, MP who was very polite and understanding, also was Mr Jason McCartney, MP who took a special interest, being the member for the Colne Valley where Anthony lived.
We also met our mayor Clr Eric Firth and the mayor of Rochdale, Town’s opponents on that day.
For me it was a special pleasure to be introduced to Dean Hoyle. What an extremely nice fellow he is.
Nothing was too much trouble for him. He even took some flowers to Anthony’s home for the family. How many club owners would do this?
We say the same about Mrs Hoyle and his son, having being introduced to them also.
Another highlight was being presented with a special Help the Heroes shirt, presented and signed by our club captain Peter Clarke.
What a superb day. To all of you at Huddersfield Town FC, we thank you from our hearts under such tragic circumstances.
Mr and Mrs Harry Thomas Evans
Deighton
Keep us informed
THE Examiner published a traffic order for the Greenhead and Crosland Moor/Netherton wards on March 2.
Curiously, as the people I talked to on our street confirmed, they had not recently been consulted on such matters.
Talking to other members of the Marsh Forum they also said that they knew nothing about it.
I talked to the legal team in the Civic Centre who confirmed that the councillors in the Greenhead ward had pushed for the traffic orders in Marsh.
It is important, I believe, for councillors to keep their constituents informed.
I object to some parts of the ward in Greenhead being made permit parking areas at the expense of others.
When a move was made several years ago to make part of Syringa Street permit parking, residents and affected businesses made it clear that the changes were unacceptable to the majority.
We heard no more about it until the legal notice appeared in the Examiner.
As a Conservative supporter you may think I am just attacking the Labour councillors again. On the last occasion the issue arose I found Barbara Jones admirably able to chair an ad hoc meeting of concerned residents.
This time I have been told if no-one objects by March 30 the order will take effect.
No doubt some will see a good result from this order. For example people will be able to park for a short time round areas of Greenhead Park and those parking all day will have to park elsewhere; which is where I come in.
The traffic problem in Marsh will not be solved by this, just moved elsewhere. Some areas in the newly affected areas are treated worse than others.
I did not enter into politics to make sure I had a protected area around my house where only I could park. Obviously others think differently.
I urge the community to come together to object to this order so everyone can be treated equally and come to an agreement that will satisfy the majority.
Bernard McGuin
Marsh
Closing tax loopholes
WHEN the Budget is announced next week on March 21, we will all be asked to make sacrifices in order to deal with our economic problems.
At the same time, many multinational companies continue to evade billions in taxes every year.
In spite of tough talk on cracking down on tax dodging, the government is planning on opening a new tax loophole which will make it easier for multinationals to avoid paying their bills around the world.
ActionAid estimates that developing countries could lose £4bn, money urgently needed to fight poverty, while the Treasury’s own figures show the UK will lose £1bn a year.
When companies dodge taxes it is ordinary people in the UK and around the world who pick up the bill.
When these changes are debated in Parliament, I’m calling on our MPs to make sure the government urgently rethinks its plans.
Glyn Calvert
Huddersfield
Numbers game
IN the Examiner for May 19, 2010, Kirklees Council warned its staff that by April, 2012, the workforce would be reduced from 11,200 to 9,700.
The council also said that it would reduce its budget by £250m between 2010 and 2015, though the cuts would not affect staff working in schools.
Am I missing something?
When the recent cuts were announced on February 28 this year, the number of full time Kirklees jobs or their equivalent was given as 13,057.
Can anyone tell me why the total number of Kirklees employees is greater now by 1,857 than in 2010?
On February 29, Clr Peter McBride announced that £1.7m would be spent on council homes and neighbourhoods.
With all the financial cuts happening Mr McBride didn’t say if the £1.7m was coming from Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing, the Government or Kirklees Council taxpayers.
The £30,000 Huddersfield Town Centre budget pales into insignificance compared to £1.7m.
MG
Crosland Moor
Totties bottleneck
IF people think a Tesco store in New Mill Road, Holmfirth will bring an increase in traffic and HGVs, try living in the little village of Totties!
The number of HGVs trying to squeeze through is ridiculous.
We already put up with the increasing volume of normal traffic on our little village roads. At least to get to the proposed Tesco site you have main roads.
Kirklees are not allowing parking on pavements. If the residents didn’t park on the pavements no traffic would get through. Now there’s a thought!
GC
Totties
Dangerous lane
THE Examiner’s recent article about Lees Mill Lane, Linthwaite, the only vehicle access to Grosvenor Chemicals, confirms what many locals already knew, that the access to the site is wholly inadequate for the large goods vehicles which use it.
Kirklees Council confirms that the footpath section of the lane is the only section with which it has concern and a duty of maintenance. There is no owner of the lane itself to pay for repairs.
This road is deemed unsafe by those who have professionally surveyed it. It is used by large good vehicles carrying a variety of substances. It has no owner obliged to maintain, strengthen or repair it.
Pedestrians and residents are not alerted to the dangers of the road. There are no pedestrian refuges on a steep incline where large vehicles regularly slip and roll backwards.
Part of the lane has collapsed recently and been shored up by rubble covered over with hard core stones.
Less than two months ago a tanker turned left into the lane, then hit, demolished and went partially over a wall, blocking the lane for several hours.
Goods lorries are still turning left off Manchester Road, ignoring Grosvenor’s informal, advisory No Left Turn For LGVs sign.
Not even two cars have enough width of lane to pass each other on the lane’s incline.
It is to be hoped that some positive action is taken by all parties, agencies, owners and Kirklees and it would be nice if Grosvenor, the lane’s dominant user, were to help out.
It may be that some, at least, of the operators of companies which deliver to Grosvenor will heed the advice to be issued by the Health and Safety Executive about the unsafe and bad state of the lane.
HB
Linthwaite
Charity bags
THE theft of charity bags as reported in the Examiner (March 6) is clearly not to be tolerated.
But there’s a another side to this. Last week Cruelty to Children left a bag for me to fill, which I did – but nobody collected it.
A firefighters’ charity told us they were going to pick up their charity bags earlier this week, but they haven’t called either.
It seems to me that the collectors are not doing their job properly.
It there something wrong with my bag? Not even the thieves want it.
S Liversidge
Golcar
Our local hero
GLAD to know that local hero Paddy Hynes completed the charity walk to Bury (Examiner letter – Massive thank you, March 12) and raised much needed funding for a very good cause.
He is a great working-class guy like myself and I supported him because of his ideals, his humanity and honesty. It is community people like Paddy who deserve the honours that our nation gives, as they have others totally at heart and not themselves.
David Hill
Conservative Candidate, Colne Valley
