FURTHER to my letter of July 26 and the letter (Examiner, August 6) from Mr Kenneth Greenwood, reference the re-application from the Thandi brothers for a public house on Castle Hill, I would point out I suggested a referendum on the matter.

Mr Greenwood apparently favours that approach as he feels the majority of people in Huddersfield would welcome a replacement pub on the Hill thus showing there are two points of opinion on the subject. A referendum would sort the matter out once and for all.

Is it not time for Kirklees Council to realise this subject is not going to go away by ignoring the feelings of its constituents? Giving planning permission surreptitiously would only exacerbate the depth of feelings of Huddersfield folk, of which I am proud to be one.

Surely when the planning permission was refused that should have been that, especially as the original planning permission was abused.

Why do we need a pub on the Hill? There are plenty of pubs in the area. Leave the Hill alone and yes Mr Greenwood it is beautiful and not just in a few people’s eyes. People come from far and wide to see our Hill, not to visit a pub. The pub, I agree, was here before the Jubilee Tower as were, we believe, earthworks and a castle, hence the name. There have been poems, articles and books written about the Hill, not the tower and especially not the pub.

To reach this pub lots of people would have to drive. Is this not a dangerous move to promote? The complications, drink-driving, noise, pollution, the reduction of wild life habitants and all such other adverse practices outweigh the few points in favour of a pub on the Hill, if indeed there are any. Come on Kirklees Council, let the public have its say.

David Gill

Huddersfield

Creating ‘visitor magnet’

I HAVE written several times on the topic of a pub on the hill. The Thandi partnership have of course submitted plans for a “rebuild” and those interested await the outcome of the application.

I personally agree with writer Chris Thomas, of Netherton, and now Kenneth Greenwood, of Berry Brow, who submitted a letter in favour. Both writers have also gone into the history of the tower, the pub and the area very interestingly. There are of course opposing views on this subject for one reason or another.

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr Greenwood and Mr Thomas that permission should be granted for a rebuild.

What better than to have a lovely walk around the beautiful area, visiting the tower and having a few pints and a meal at the rebuilt hotel and then relaxing on the greens that surround it with game of ball with the kids, or an ice cream from a visiting supplier?

All in all I sincerely hope a rebuild takes place and it will be a visitor ‘magnet’.

Mr Bull

Skelmanthorpe

Open to all

WE ARE happy to allay N Hinchliffe’s concerns (Examiner August 7).

Huddersfield Civic Society is a registered charity. It aims to promote high standards of planning and architecture in or affecting the area; to stimulate public interest in and care for the geography, history, natural history, beauty, character and architecture in the area and to encourage the preservation, protection, development and improvement of features of historic interest or general public amenity in the area.

Should the society fall short it would be appropriate to challenge its worth.

Membership is open to all.

Chris Marsden, ChairRichard Ward, President

Huddersfield Civic Society

Costly! Who cares?

A REPORT by the National Institute of Economic and Special Research ‘found that the Government’s decision to implement austerity immediately after it came to power may have cost the country a total of 16.5% in GDP growth over a decade – the equivalent of £239bn in 2010 prices’ (Examiner, Friday August 3).

But if you are one of those fortunate enough to take advantage of offshore tax free trust funds, who cares?

Allen Jenkinson

Milnsbridge

Swimming pool doubts

THE people of Huddersfield can rest assured that the new Springwood swimming pool project will not be anything like Olympic standard.

Out of all potential sites available it’s my view that KMC only want it at Springwood or what will be left of the car park because it is near to the ring road, as though it will be some showpiece development for Huddersfield. Given the revenue raised by the parking charges at Springwood, there has been a vain attempt after many weeks to cut the grass and trim the areas around the car park shrubbery. For all the revenue raised from the car parking plot at Springwood one would expect a better standard of maintenance.

Anthony Smith

Springwood

Topsy turvy situation

THE recent case of mayhem on the Mirfield estate highlights the current absurd system of social housing allocation.

The idle, reckless and criminal it seems are given social housing, yet their conduct is anti-social.

But we have soldiers ending their term of engagement who struggle to find decent accommodation for themselves and their families.

It’s all “topsy turvy”.

We indulge the chaotic wastrel families but cannot or will not prioritise decent people.

Whilst the vast legion of “bleeding hearts” will wring their hands, I think we should tell these families, behave or find somewhere else, as they are no doubt living at public expenditure.

They should consider the consequences of their conduct or face the penalty.

Barry Fowler

Huddersfield

Utterly Butterley

A COUPLE of months ago I noticed a Save Butterley Spillway poster in Marsden stating ‘once it’s gone, it’s gone forever’.

Now I’m quite keen on the spillway and was glad there were people out there contesting moves I knew nothing about, but as I’m not a born campaigner, I left it at that.

Next morning I awoke to find my front stone wall had been stolen in the night.

The police informed me it wasn’t an uncommon problem. What annoyed me most (aside from the usual affront you feel at having something stolen) was the wider issue of posterity.

I know in the great scheme of things a bit of stone theft isn’t the crime of the century but as Yorkshire stone is so expensive – and with no guarantee it won’t be taken again – from our wall at least – it’s gone forever.

It’s happened to friends who haven’t replaced for the same reasons.

If we’re unable to preserve the unique original features that make up our landscape, making do instead with cheaper or concrete copies, eventually it will be irrevocably diminished.

Which brings me to the spillway and the campaign I’ve now joined.

At a time when Yorkshire pride has rightly gone global, with the help of our White Rose Olympians, it seems more poignant than ever that Yorkshire Water is prepared to fritter away some of that pride by destroying the only listed spillway of its type in the country.

English Heritage states that ‘listing helps us acknowledge and understand our shared history’ – sadly not if Yorkshire Water has its way.

M LARKIN

Marsden

KHS – who are they..?

I TOTALLY concur with Mr Atkinson’s letter (Examiner, Tuesday, August 7).

I would assume that the identity of Ms Dale’s senior and influential people, apart from herself, will include our elected parish council and the business association, all of whom appear to have vested interests.

None of these groups appear to listen to what the majority of Holmfirth people want, they only vote for what they want. It seems to me that all Keep Holmfirth Special (KHS) have succeeded in doing so far is dividing the community and creating a lot of resentment towards KHS.

More importantly, I believe the questions Mr Atkinson and the rest of us should be asking are: who are KHS?

Who gave this minority group the mandate to speak on behalf of the majority of us?

Why are they so reticent to disclose who their benefactors are? What qualifies KHS to say what is best for Holmfirth?

Who asked KHS to initiate changes in Holmfirth?

I agree that Holmfirth needs to change and maybe the KHS questionnaire is a step towards this, but my concern is that we will become what the Holmfirth KHS want and not the Holmfirth the majority want. The town appears to be being run by a small collection of totally unelected individuals who seem to have the blessing of our so called elected councillors.

YVONNE RADCLIFFE

Holmfirth