WITH regard to ‘Crash Concern’ I do believe that Clr Tony Woodhead has missed the point about when he says Kirkwood Drive is ‘a difficult road for people to drive along quickly’.

It’s not about speed but the design of the road. If the houses were built today would the road pass planning?

There is a similar housing estate near to Clr Woodhead’s own home where road bumps were installed due to the bends in the road.

I have been a driver for 30 years and still have difficulty negotiating the bend on Kirkwood Drive.

I have friends who live in the area and travel on the road quite frequently.

Even when taking the bend at slow speed it is difficult not to wander into the middle of the road.

There are no signs to warn it is a sharp bend and hedges obscure your view.

Clr Tony Brice says it’s about the number of accidents before measures are put in place.

Shouldn’t it be about proactive accident prevention?

If this is the case why were bumps installed on Cowrakes Road and Moorhill Road?

The main area where accidents happened was at the junction with Crosland Road. The signs were put up for a mini roundabout, but the plans, for some reason, were never put in place.

The signposts are still there, wasting energy, and the accidents are still happening.

Why wait for the results from an accident investigation to do something about Kirkwood Drive?

My message to Clr Brice and Clr Woodhead would be please listen to the concerns of your voting public for a change and address the ever-increasing traffic difficulties in Lindley now.

Mrs Claire Palmer

Lindley

Too many people

I CAN only think that Sir David Attenborough has spent far too much time in the jungle.

Sir David has just become a patron of Optimum Population Trust (OPT) – a UK think tank which is concerned with the impact of population growth on the environment.

Sir David issued a statement saying that the growth in human numbers is frightening and must be addressed.

Now I don’t know about you, but this problem is not new. When you get governments which dish out money to people for not working and for having children wholesale is there any wonder why this country is awash with people.

There are a lot of parents who seem to take no responsibility for their children and the number of children they have.

So the second generation are, in general, clones of the first.

Is there any wonder we get unwanted new housing estates popping up quicker than dandelions.

One solution would be to pay for the first born and every subsequent child that came along had no credit points value.

That would be a start. We could reduce the number of migrants entering this country.

It is well known that a lot of migrants who come to our country come from countries where large families are the norm. Our natural resources are stretched and our land will be completely covered with roads and housing.

Unemployment is picking up pace, but we keep the door fully open. Can someone please tell me why? No Labour minister has ever explained why we allow immigration to go unchecked.

Do these people work for us or not? Do we pay these people’s inflated wages and expenses?

If the answer is yes, then why are they not doing our bidding? If the European Union runs this country let us rid ourselves of our Government and cut our costs.

If the EU does not run this country then let us rid ourselves of the EU and cut our costs. Why do we feel the need for two task masters?

Is anyone listening out there? The answer must be a resounding NO.

R J BRay

Shelley

Good, bad and ugly

THE University Of Huddersfield – or should we be calling it Kirklees University these days? – is undoubtedly one of our town’s greatest assets.

The combined spending power of over 22,000 student loans is not to be sniffed at.

The university continues to invest and expand during these dark economic times when so many other of the town’s development schemes have been axed.

Its new £17m business school construction is about to get underway on Firth Street.

Over the years the Queensgate campus has evolved with an impressive array of seemingly random landmark buildings of numerous architectural styles.

Large buildings that line busy roads or stand boldly against the skyline are clearly there to be looked at – and hopefully admired.

However, the good, the bad and the ugly are all represented.

The good? Well, the Ramsden and Science buildings are without doubt good. St Paul’s Hall (the church) is a joy, although it needs a clock.

Other decent-looking buildings include the new reception and Harold Wilson buildings.

The university can also be rightly proud of the beautifully refurbished canalside mills along Firth Street near Aspley.

The bad? The Central Services Building. This must be one of the biggest collection of bricks in West Yorkshire and apparently visible from the moon – surely well past its demolish-by date.

The new Creative Arts Building. Despite trying hard, I can’t get to like this over-confident piece of architecture.

I's harsh profile suggests 70s pre-fab. The grey tiled concave wall that looms over the ring road has all the charm of a gent’s urinal – especially when it rains.

Surprisingly, from the university side, it’s a lot easier on the eye where timbers, Yorkstone and bright colours abound.

Hard to believe that it belongs to the same building.

I can’t imagine what the architects and planning authorities were thinking of when it was conceived or why the side that shows itself to the world is so disappointing.

Definitely a building with a split personality.

The ugly? No prizes for guessing this one. The corrugated shack that describes itself as the sports hall which sits at the junction of Wakefield Road and Queensgate.

Of all Huddersfield’s unpleasant buildings – sadly there is quite a lot – this nasty tin shed really takes the biscuit.

Standing so prominently, it hardly gives a favourable impression of Huddersfield or its university.

Uncle Grumpy

Golcar

Wonder Whitakers

INTERESTING piece about the Whitaker show-jumping family dynasty.

John and Michael, yes, the senior members, but I think the genes started with their mother, Enid Whitaker, nee Lockwood.

Before the war, she was one girl among a lot of boys at Mr Woodhead’s stable at Brewery Yard in Fenay Bridge.

Mr Woodhead was a great horseman, but a strict disciplinarian.

As well as horses, he was well known for bringing on show ponies and jumpers in the under 14.2 hh classes and obviously needed youngsters to ride and school them.

My old pal, Warwick Matthews – now 83 and living in Quebec where he still skies – was one of these youngsters and remembers Enid well.

A little mare called Topsy was a wonder on her day, but off her day was a horror and Enid took her share of tumbles.

How incredible that such a wonderful family of equestrians can all owe their success to this enthusiastic and hardworking girl from Fenay Bridge!

AFH

Almondbury

Office perks

WITH regard to your recent articles on MPs’ allowances, could I emphasise that I know of no other place of work where a person’s office, desk and support staff are regarded as ‘expenses’.

As many of your readers will know, MPs’ staff are often the first port of call for often desperate constituents at the end of their tether.

They are there to assist the service given by hardworking MPs like Barry Sheerman and Kali Mountford and shouldn’t be seen as a ‘perk’ of the job.

Dan Whittle

Huddersfield

Fundraising thanks

THE Kirklees Branch of the Alzheimer’s Society would like to thank Marks and Spencer’s in Huddersfield for giving us the opportunity to pack bags at the tills on Easter Saturday.

We raised a magnificent £1,354.47 due to the kindness and generosity of the Marks and Spencer’s shoppers on the day.

Thank you so much.

Grateful thanks also go to our hardworking team of wonderful volunteers.

The funds raised will enable us to continue to help local people with dementia and their carers and to raise awareness of this cruel disease.

Wendy Oldfield

Volunteer fundraiser

Alzheimer’s Society, Kirklees Branch