THERE seems to be cutbacks in Kirklees Council such as libraries, information centres and other things that affect the public.
But its time KMC looked to their own corner – KMC vans, pickups and many more small vehicles operated by KMC which employees use to and from work.
At nights and weekends they are parked all over West Yorkshire, not at operating base. It seems if you work for KMC its all right to use the vehicles as transport to and from work.
The cost of this over 12 months must be quite a tidy sum – if each vehicle only uses one gallon of diesel a week this would be a lot of money, but its probably a lot more taking in KMC vehicles parked all over Batley, Birstall and Cleckheaton, just to name a few areas.
I understand there are call-out vehicles such as odd building services vans, but a lot of the others are just a perk.
You only have to take a drive round at night to see just how many vehicles are kept at home. As council taxpayers we are paying for this when poor old Joe Soap has to pay for his own transport to and from work.
Anyone with a company vehicles which they use to get to work is supposed to pay tax on this.
Its time KMC had to publish the amount of fuel and mileage used by this practice.
As it is with MPs’ expenses, they should be accountable to us the general public as council tax payers.
JML
Holmfirth
Victim turned accused
I COULDN’T believe my eyes reading the Examiner (June 19) that a victim of vandalism reporting the incident to the police could be the loser.
Do we pay for our police to protect the wrongdoers and vandals instead of the law-abiding citizens?
We haven’t finished reading hair-raising stories about our Parliament and Government, but now the last institution in this country, the police seem to have also lost their commonsense policies.
A sense of proportion has been lost – innocently-spoken words, immediately cancelled the crime of the wrongdoers in the eyes of the police.
The public is asking the police to make our streets and homes safe and what they get is the opposite, plus plenty of rosy words.
What’s gone wrong in our country. We have just celebrated D-Day in which so many thousands of lives were sacrificed for the better country of today!
Tony Sosna
Huddersfield
Time to wear a hat
THE Americans wear hats for practical reasons – it is a very hot country.
They wear Stetsons out on the rage and baseball caps in the city. In this country we don’t wear hats. We used to do, but we don’t now unless it is the ‘done thing’ or it is the ‘fashion’.
Kipling wrote: “When a man does work out of all proportion to his pay, in seven cases out of nine there is a woman at the back of the virtue, the other two must have suffered from sunstroke.
Sunstroke is very debilitating and melanoma – skin cancer – is not very pleasant, yet even in this recent period of hot weather few people seem to be sporting appropriate protective headgear.
We had to be told how, what and when to drink copious amounts of water. I guess we’ll have to wait to be told when to wear a hat.
Arthur Richmond
Salendine Nook
Don’t close our school
I FEEL I have to write to express my disgust in the proposal to close East Bierley School.
Closing East Bierley School and making all the children travel to Birkenshaw, as in the other two options offered in the current proposals, would have a severe detrimental affect on the village.
The traffic going through the village is already out of hand and closing the school would increase traffic even more.
Children benefit greatly from being able to walk to their local school and prefer to walk than have to travel by car.
Kirklees should be trying to decrease pollution levels, not increase them!
Petrol prices have also become prohibitive and many parents would struggle to meet the added expense of travelling out of the village to get their young children to school.
Home schooling is being seriously considered by many faced with this position.
East Bierley village post office has already been closed down which has reduced the community spirit of the village and meant may people, including the elderly, have to make unnecessary journeys our of the village.
Closing the school would probably mean that the village pre-school would also close which currently provides excellent pre-schooling for under fives living in the village.
The preschool pays rent to St Luke’s Church and a loss of income to the church of such a large amount would not doubt result in the church closing.
Why have two schools so close together in Birkenshaw when there is a perfectly good school, in fact an outstanding school waiting for a few minor improvements? An extension within the footprint of the school is all that is needed to make room for the two extra classrooms required.
Play facilities can be extended onto the common land surrounding the school as a very generous offer by a third party means the common land can be recreated a few metres away.
There are also he football and rugby pitches on Hunsworth Lane which, I understand, are available for use by the school and within easy walking distance.
Children join the school at the age of four and to make young pupils to join a school so far away from home is cruel.
I hope everybody’s comments are taken into consideration before the outcome of the consultants is made public and I hope East Bierley School remains open and can therefore remain outstanding.
Mrs J E Townson
East Bierley
Stig of the fair
ON behalf of the Kirkheaton Support Group for Kirkwood Hospice I wish to thank Huddersfield Pennine Rotary Club for organising the charity fair at the Open Market on Sunday, June 14.
The weather was very nice which helped to bring the crowds, no doubt assisted by the arrival of the mysterious Stig with his Mercedes! The Vintage Brass Band and the fairground organ also provided good entertainment.
Our group had four stalls selling homemade cakes, crockery and glassware, toys, jewellery, cushions and knitted goods.
The proceeds amounted to £276 and our thanks go to all who donated goods to us and all who bought from our stalls.
Mrs Freda Trigg
Secretary Kirkheaton Support Group for Kirkwood Hospice
Immigration issues
AS an ordinary working class person visiting pubs and listening to ordinary people, it is not long before the conversations turn to politics nowadays and mainly immigration.
I don’t think the majority are racist, fascist or even care what a person’s colour may be.
As none of the mainstream parties seem to be addressing immigration problems, they have voted for extreme parties who will.
As a country in recession, everyone wonders where now immigrants will find work, where they will live and who is going to keep them in the meantime?
W Shaw
Skelmanthorpe
Bee sensible
As Victor Meldrew would have said: “I don’t believe it.’’
Here is some council official stating “permission must be sought before any livestock is allowed on an allotment site.’’
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition of ‘livestock’ is “animals kept or dealt in for use or profit.’’
It also goes on to say that a bee is a social insect, not an animal.
The Allotment Act was from 1950 which was five years after World War Two when it was encouraged to be self-sufficient when it came to food – and that included keeping a pig if necessary.
The Act was to cover all foreseeable problems in 1950.
Well done to Jason Clegg for trying to do his bit for the environment.
JLB
Armitage Bridge
Frustrated pensioners
THE letter from Mrs Brenda Robshaw (Mailbag, June 17) of Almondbury was palpable in its directness, sadness and frustration.
She is not alone. Millions of pensioners feel just the same way, treated as nobodies by MPs elected to serve them but serve only themselves. Thanks to many MPs’ inertia towards pensioners, our pensions are the worst in Europe.
Moreover, we are kept low on the political agenda by their constant recourse to pension credit which is so unwieldy to obtain that many pensioners abandon it and prefer to live in poverty!
In contrast with the ease with which MPs submit their expense forms to the fees office.
At the recent pensioners parliament in Blackpool, more than 2,000 delegates were given a piece of A4 paper with the words “Remember 11 million pensioners have a vote”. If this is acted upon in the next General Election and we return MPs who really care about the plight of the elderly, we shall at last have become visible somebodies – hopefully with a decent pension!
Jean Lorriman
Press officer, Huddersfield and District Penisoners Organisation
