Letters, March 5

Mar 5 2010 by Sarah Bull, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

I READ with dismay that Huddersfield heritage groups oppose the plan to replace the pub – hotel if you wish – on Castle Hill.

Their reasoning needs further examination. Firstly that the demolition of the former Castle Hill pub makes the site technically ‘green belt’ and therefore not available for rebuilding. How then would it be available for the building of a visitor centre?

And, if such a centre was built, how many people would use it bearing in mind also that it would need to be staffed in some way?

They rightly point out that Castle Hill is an ancient monument which includes the Grade II listed tower, but let us not forget that the former pub pre-dated the tower by a considerable time .

While the tower is a local landmark which we would all wish to see preserved it was originally looked upon as a folly. Presumably when it was built nobody raised any objections to its being on the site of an ancient monument.

They claim that the hotel would detract from and ‘undermine the unique landscape’.

What nonsense. All my life, which is fairly lengthy, the tower and the pub have stood side by side and complemented each other.

The hill now looks bare and the fact that one can no longer go up there for a meal or just to have a drink is likely to reduce the number of visitors.

The Thandi brothers have put forward plans which appear outwardly little different from the original. They incorporate a room for education and information and, of course, much needed toilets as well as a physical presence on the hill which might deter some of the less savoury goings-on which have been reported to have taken place there. The council would do well to jump at the chance.

KENNETH GREENWOOD

Berry Brow

I’m a supporter

I CAN’T believe the negative views of these so-called heritage groups about the Castle Hill proposed development as reported in the Examiner (March 2).

What more could anyone ask for than to have a replacement hotel in the style of the old one, together with an education centre and toilets?

I believe the company responsible for the design is One 17, a company which has already improved the look of Armitage Bridge with the redevelopment of the dyehouse and the small bridge over Dean Brook. Neither of these will be seen by most residents of Huddersfield, but it was all done to improve the conservation area.

Honley Civic Trust felt so strongly about the Castle Hill development to make the comment that it was acceptable to restrict any change to that of an education centre and toilets. For crying out loud, who wants isolated toilets being built anywhere?

The council’s planning office has received 14 objections and one person from the public supporting the proposal.

You cannot tell me that there is only one person in Huddersfield supporting this development. If I am wrong, then I will become the second person to support it.

JLB

Armitage Bridge

Hill top attraction

IT was certainly to be expected that there would be opposition to a new pub on Castle Hill with three heritage groups now adding their voices.

Huddersfield Civic Society, Huddersfield and District Archeological Society and Honley Civic Society have submitted official objections to the latest proposals by the Thandi brothers.

Now we all know that the last attempt by the Thandi Brothers turned out to be a disaster – partly Kirklees Council’s fault, as well as the builders, I would suggest – but I think this new design for a seven bedroom hotel with a bar, restaurant and public toilets could well be an acceptable one, especially as it includes a room for educational use including information about the history of Castle Hill.

After the long walk up it would be a more welcoming sight for visitors than the sole other building on the hill, the Victoria Tower, which, although an excellent landmark, is, let’s face it, no architectural gem and seldom open for people to go in.

I don’t think the proposed hotel would deface the landscape as some people seem to think and, as the weather is often cold and wet on Castle Hill, it could provide a welcome refuge.

A hotel would seem a much better bet from a refreshments point of view and might well attract more visitors, some from out of town, to our historic hill.

Or do objectors have strong bladders and want to keep the location just for themselves?

OBSERVER

Newsome

Care over Christmas

IN my letter (Mailbag, March 3) about problems with care over the last few Christmases I said that all the right pieces of paper had been filled in for the different agencies, but this did not mean I was looked after by the agencies over Christmas.

I wish it had been the case that because the paperwork had been done all was OK and someone had arrived from the care agency to get my Christmas lunch!

They didn’t and I still had to find somebody privately to do it.

Unless somebody in the right department has a change of heart and puts care back to how it used to be (Bank Holiday cover means Christmas and New Year cover) I’ll have to do that for the rest of my life. It isn’t easy.

Sue Papworth

Kirkburton

Sense of betrayal

WELL, as expected, we are all faced with another council tax increase. Given the present economic climate one would have hoped at least the current charges would have been frozen at current rates. Not a chance in Kirklees.

With unemployment, short time, savings eroded by the greed of banks and this incompetent government that ignored our manufacturing base, people who voted for New Labour since 1997 must feel very betrayed by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

At least we can use our democratic prerogative and show our verdict on them come the local and general elections.

ANTHONY SMITH

Springwood

Hard times for the old

THE elderly in this country now are treated like second class citizens and it all depends who you are if you are trying to claim benefits.

People who have worked for the country over the last 40 or 50 years are at the back of the queue.

The social services are very plausible but don’t follow through. I do understand what the lady who is 90 years old means. I am 70 myself and have worked in this country 40 years and paid all dues and demands.

Anne Smith

Kirkheaton

Quality bus services

WE can tell when it’s time for a general election because the Conservative candidate for Colne Valley pledges to do all he can to improve local bus services, some of which are non-existent and others that operate to a timetable that we passengers are not supposed to know about.

Before we jump out of the frying pan and into the fire, we need to consider the following.

All elected members on the West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority (Conservatives included) voted unanimously to implement a series of quality bus service contracts for the exclusive operation of services. It would be the first such scheme outside London.

These contracts are designed to deliver the reliable services that we are wanting and will prevent the bus barons from making unjustified cuts to services and blaming fare rises on fuel prices.

WYITA’s Conservative chairman Clr Chris Greaves, has said: “The bus services being provided are not meeting people’s needs and passengers have been let down and overcharged. Quality contracts are the best way to take control of the situation and provide the level of transport people need.’’

But at a Transport Times conference in London last November the shadow transport minister Stephen Hammond said: “I believe quality contracts have no place in a deregulated industry. If elected, we will take the necessary steps to get rid of them.’’

Our Conservative candidate seems to be unaware of the split within his own party, even though we are constantly receiving mailshots urging us to vote for him. Are we voting for the system we’ve endured since Sunday, October 26 1986, with its unreliability and being charged £1.20 for a two-stop journey of half-a-mile recently? I hate to visualise what life would be like if the national bus pass is taken away from us. We are still waiting at the bus stop for something better than this.

Alan J Robinson

Huddersfield

Turbines’ hot air

READING about the proposed building of four new wind turbines in Kirklees set me thinking about the two turbines that are on Deighton Centre playing fields.

They have not been working for at least the last four months and prior to that were not working more often than working.

The Kirklees website, updated July 2007, explains two of the Deighton project’s aims as ‘to supply the Deighton Centre with energy from the wind’ and ‘to act as a visible statement of Kirklees Council’s commitment to reducing climate change emissions’. The turbines need to be working to do this.

The cost of the two turbines at Deighton, according to the case study document, was £140,000. It was thought at the time that surplus electricity could be sold back to their present suppliers. This was not possible to do at the time the case study was produced and is irrelevant now if the turbines don’t run.

The case study has many aims and aspirations but is a case of ‘good on paper poor in practice’.

Derek Firth

Deighton