AS a Kirklees ratepayer and a Giants supporter I have read with little attention to what I thought were unfair gripes from Town supporters regarding Ken Davy and their 40% shares in the stadium.

A very interesting letter in the Examiner on Saturday and information I was told by a friend has got me thinking about the whole issue.

The stadium was meant to be a community stadium with Town and Kirklees getting a 40% share each and the rugby team 20%, as they did not have land to put into the stadium.

Towns share of 40% was transferred to Huddersfield Sporting Pride, as well as the Rugby Clubs 20% share.

This is Kens own company as far as I can gather and it means, in effect, that he owns 60% and KMC 40% in a stadium that was meant to be a three-way community share.

I can see why Town fans want their shares back because their chairman now owns the club and, as such, the shares that Ken transferred for s2 to protect them from debts is now obsolete as he doesnt own Town anymore.

What worries me more as a Giants fan is that we dont actually own any shares in the stadium either.

Im not saying he will, but what happens if Ken decides to pack in or walk away? We would not have a share in the stadium either ?

Is Kirklees Council happy with an arrangement that has, in effect, an individual having a majority share in the stadium ?

Concerned

Huddersfield

Keep paying cash

STOPPING scrapyards paying cash will not stop thieves as criminals have bank accounts.

I weigh a small amount of scrap in as I pick up discarded batteries that people have flytipped.

I also get small amounts of copper and aluminium given.

What I weigh in doesnt amount to s60 in 18 months, but its better than putting it in a dustbin or leaving it looking unsightly as it has been flytipped.

It certainly doesnt warrant a bank account for this puny amount!

J A Hammond

Scapegoat Hill

Need for dog licences

I WAS horrified when I saw a photograph of all that dog filth littered on the path in Golcar.

But let us not forget that dog filth is in most parks in Kirklees and with only four wardens not a lot can be done.

In Britain dogs deposit about one million gallons of urine daily and around 700 tons of faeces which either contains or helps to spread innumerable infections.

There is also some evidence linking its presence in the human body to blindness.

During my walking days in the parks I have seen children eating ice-cream, their fingers polluted with dog mess.

When is someone going to start inflicting heavy fines on all owners who do not clean up the mess their pets have made?

I would like to see dog licences brought back, this time to s100 a year for each dog owned, excluding dogs for the blind and police.

Let us have a bit of pride back in Kirklees.

H Barraclough

Waterloo

Thanks to Fusion Housing

I WOULD like through your column to express my sincere appreciation of the support agencies in Kirklees, particularly to Fusion Housing and the staff who do a wonderful and often thankless job.

In view of the local and nationwide spending cuts I would like to say if its not broke dont try to mend it.

If anyone decides to come along with a new brush to sweep clean I, for one, would be very upset and so would a lot of vulnerable people.

Patrick Hynes

Crosland Moor

Over the hill

MAY I suggest that the shopkeepers who are protesting against the Tesco project for Holmfirth take a trip just over the hill to Glossop.

There they will find a thriving town with many different types of shops that also has large Tesco and Cooperative stores.

J T Harrison

Holmfirth

Shops double standards

WE agree entirely with the points made in Mr Armitages letter of January 17 re double standards in regard to the Tesco matter.

To board up some of the local shops and yet continue to trade is hypocritical.

The traders in Meltham have continued alongside Morrisons.

In Brighouse, the traders continue alongside Sainsburys and Tesco.

On January 16 in Hornsea, East Yorkshire, a newly-built Tesco store was opened.

Parallels can be drawn as Hornsea too has a Co-op store and many independent shops.

The position of the new Tesco store is approximately the same distance from the centre of Hornsea as will be the new store from the centre of Holmfirth.

A new road system has been constructed at Hornsea and also there is the provision of a petrol station at the new store.

Again, like Holmfirth, there was no petrol station in the immediate area. All who wish to make use of the new Tesco store and the petrol station have the choice to do so.

Those who oppose the new Holmfirth Tesco store and also oppose a petrol station dont have to use it that is their choice. The choice for others should also be there.

J & M Sheard

Huddersfield

Say yes to Tesco

WHAT a lot of moaning traders and residents Holmfirth has got about the proposed Tesco supermarket.

The village of Meltham has a Co-op and Morrisons supermarkets and before Morrisons there was Lodges supermarket. The traders and residents of Meltham didnt moan and groan when Safeway was built which is now Morrisons.

We in Meltham have to put up with the congestion down Station Street caused by residents from Holmfirth coming to Morrisons.

Please Kirklees Council approve the Tesco plan in Holmfirth quickly.

I am sick and tired of reading about the Holmfirth plan.

Resident

Meltham

Paying for memorials

ALTHOUGH wars still make the news, armed conflict on a truly global scale has today been experienced by so few of us that the question arises how do we keep our respect for all those who laid down their lives in two World Wars meaningful and relevant?

To answer that we must turn to the only part of our heritage that reminds us as a nation of those dark years our war memorials.

Whatever form they take, most war memorials were erected between 1918 and 1925 with almost no formalisation in terms of financing, design, construction methods or siting.

In 1923, the War Memorials (Local Authorities Powers) Act gave councils the power to direct public money at war memorial upkeep should they choose.

However, the Act, which to this day remains the key piece of legislation, never compelled them to do so.

Today, not only do war memorials have to dovetail with the demands of 21st century living but the prospect of coping with their sheer numbers in terms of establishing some kind of priority of work required including establishing precise ownership is a nightmare scenario for most councils and more so in the current economic climate.

The forthcoming centenary of the Great War in 2014-2018 is beginning to focus minds on how this can be marked.

If war memorial upkeep was made a national issue with finance, possibly in the form of a National War Memorial Restoration Fund from central Government, we could work toward the centenary of the Armistice in November 2018 by creating the ultimate tribute a national collection of pristine, safe and readable war memorials.

The fund would, of course, be taxpayers money but I believe that, for once, most taxpayers would be happy to see planned and sensible investment in this part of our heritage.

Visit www.clean2018.moonfruit.com for more details of my ideas.

Ray Thompson

Brigg, Lincolnshire

Youre being silly

IN his letter (January 13), Martin Noble asks Am I œbeing too aged and silly with reference to (as I understand it) his grandchildren reading from tiny computers.

My feeling is that yes, you areœbeing too aged and silly.

When I retired I was given a Kindle. Its brilliant, its easy to read, can hold up toœ

aœcoupleœofœthousand books.

Its a library, in fact,œand wont end up on a charity shop shelf with a 50p price tag on it.

Sorry, Martin, I think you will find that paper books will go the same way as the stagecoach went as a means of transport.

Does it really matter what material is used to carry a story is it not the story that matters?

Bryan Spencer

Crosland Moor