WHEN there are huge waiting lists for allotments and the price of food is rising at a time of recession and while the environmental cost of importing food is huge, why will the council not provide more land to be turned into public growing spaces?

Why in these times have the flower beds in New Street been paved over when they could be put to the use of growing herbs for the benefit of all and with little maintenance?

There is land to the south and east of Civic Centre III which could easily and cheaply be fenced off and cultivated as allotment plots. There is a vast amount of unused council land in other parts as well.

The council needs to take a leaf out of the book (forgive the pun) of the Incredible Edible movement whose vegetable garden at Huddersfield Parish Church is not only productive but more aesthetically pleasing than many municipal flower beds.

Given the recession and the grave battle against climate change, we need to echo the slogans and lifestyles of my parents’ generation and ‘dig for victory’.

It is healthier and cheaper than wasting money on the gym and infinitely more fascinating than degenerating in front of the telly.

Ian Brooke

Save our Services

Is it a man’s world now?

AH, for the good old days.

I was struck by the caption of the Memory Lane photo in a recent Examiner. The photo showed three couples at a function of the Huddersfield and District Chemists’ Association.

The caption also set out the full names, titles and status of the important people pictured, Mr Herbert Grainger, guest speaker, president of pharmaceutical society of Great Britain, oh, and his wife; Mr R Gledhill, branch chairman, and his wife; and on the right Mr Malcolm Peel, toastmaster, and his wife.

Women knew their places in those days and didn’t merit a mention. I know what you’re all thinking now: “If only Dennis Thatcher had kept up the tradition.’’

Those were the days when men were men. They were leaders of the nation and the known universe and masters of the house. Children and wives were seen but not heard. Discipline in both home and society was controlled by men – it was strict but fair. The world was a happier place in ‘the good old days’.

Oops, sorry, got to go. Mrs L is going for a night out with the girls, it’s my turn to chauffeur them there and back and I haven’t washed up yet.

John Langford

Lepton

A mixed message

LAST week’s column by John Avison highlights the abuse of NHS services, in particular the use of their ambulances.

I agree with him wholeheartedly – I hate to see waste in whatever form it takes.

However, there is another element to this wastage. I was due to be taken by ambulance to James’s Hospital in Leeds on January 3. Three days before that date I had an urgent call from the hospital to ask me to make my own arrangements, as the bank holiday meant there was no ambulance for me.

You can imagine my surprise when I returned home the following week to find a card from the ambulance service to tell me that they had called on January 3 but could get no reply.

Their card states: “A wasted journey is a waste of money and your seat could be offered to another patient if you don’t need it.’’

My sentiments entirely.

Elsie M Eva

Lepton

Burning questions

IN reply to Mr Townend’s letter of January 18, the Wood Fuel Heating Event on February 2 is aimed at helping businesses and Kirklees residents understand the Clean Air legislation.

It has been organised because of an increase in complaints from people who are affected by smoke from their neighbours’ chimneys.

The wood fuel event is designed to raise awareness for residents and businesses about which appliances to buy and what fuel to burn so they can comply with the law.

There are specific restrictions which apply to each appliance as to what can and cannot be burned and there are indeed exempted appliances which may be used to burn other fuels such as wood.

On non-exempt appliances only authorised fuel such as coke, anthracite or gas should be burned and we are aware of some Kirklees residents spending money on expensive wood-burning stoves which are not exempt appliances.

To comply with the law they would have to burn authorised fuels only. In addition, the chimney serving the stove may be emitting smoke with the potential to cause ill health to the residents and their neighbours.

More information about Smoke Control areas and exempt appliances can be found at http://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/guidance.php. To book a place on the wood fuel event please contact Claire.hoyles@kirklees.gov.uk or 07528 252404.

Wendy Blakeley

Kirklees Council Pollution Control Manager

Labour’s quandary

THE Labour Party is to be congratulated on winning a by-election with no policies.

The only tactic available is to oppose all cuts and policies proposed by the coalition government. They failed to win a general election because they were not straight with the electorate over the financial mess they had made.

Five years is a long time in politics and the only thing they can realistically come up with, in my opinion, is to concentrate on raising taxes rather than cutting spending.

Any opposition to tax rises under the coalition government therefore smacks of political opportunism.

It is old fashioned conservatism to wish to cut income tax and, therefore, leave workers with more money in their pocket and use indirect taxation as a way of raising revenue.

Indeed, this formula was used by Gordon Brown during his time as Chancellor.

He cut the basic rate of tax to 20% whilst tinkering with numerous taxes such as levies on insurance payments and pension investments. When Brown lost his prudence and spent far more than he received, he plunged the nation into debt. He excluded the billions spent on the Private Finance Initiative as well which meant £250bn did not show up as government debt even though the public purse is paying for it over 20 years.

Ed Miliband says that Labour should have come clean when in government over the debt problem. I hope that over time he, as one of the writers of the 2010 manifesto for his party, has the humility to take his share of the blame for the wasted Labour years, show the error of his ways and support at least some of the coalition’s policies for righting the nation’s finances.

Bernard McGuin

Marsh

Cashing in

THE Government is cutting public spending at the same time as increasing taxation, so the question is: Where’s our money going?

Allen Jenkinson

Milnsbridge

It’s tough on youngsters

IN Yorkshire and The Humber the number of young people trapped on benefits for more than a year has recently hit a 12-year high, as well as increasing more than six-fold since before the recession.

These are more than just numbers – they represent hundreds of thousands of wasted young lives, many of whom are facing 2011 with little or no hope for the future as the country faces new cuts and further job losses.

Our hard-hitting new report, The Prince’s Trust Macquarie Youth Index, shows that almost half of unemployed young people claim that joblessness has caused them increased mental health problems – including reports of self harm, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts and insomnia.

Our findings show that unemployment can go hand-in-hand with significant emotional stress. We know that the longer young people are jobless, the greater the risk to their mental health.

Failing to step in and help these young people now will create longer term problems which will affect young people and their families across Yorkshire in the future.

More than three-quarters of the 3,500 young people supported by The Prince’s Trust in Yorkshire and The Humber last year moved into work, education or training.

The efforts of charitable organisations like The Prince’s Trust, working with the local authorities, the business community and individual fundraisers, will play a key role in offering hope in 2011 to a generation of young people who think the new year has nothing to offer.

Samantha Kennedy

Acting Regional Director, The Prince’s Trust,Yorkshire and The Humber