YET another brilliant idea from Kirklees Council – one almost to rival the St George’s Square fiasco.

I know, let’s really upset the electorate and build 2,000 unwanted and overpriced four-bedroom houses in the beautiful green belt of the Colne Valley.

Do the wise, we-know-what’s-best-for-you councillors realise that there are empty properties all over the Colne Valley due to lack of buyers and interest?

Titanic Mill is only two-thirds complete and half empty after four years.

Infrastructure in the Colne Valley cannot cope with anywhere near this amount of development – schools, roads, doctors and dentists are at bursting point already.

Forget this ridiculous idea and listen to the people you are supposed to serve – we do not want these houses.

There’s an old Yorkshire saying: “Tha’ can’t put a pint in an ‘alf pint pot.”

C Patterson

Linfit

Green land gone for good

CONSIDERABLE concerns have been expressed by the inhabitants of the Holme and Colne Valleys about the prospects of further housing development in this collection of villages accessed for the most part by narrow country roads.

It is not just a concern about infrastructure, it is about the prospect of these places having their nature and character destroyed for good by planning vandals. The very attributes which make them attractive for old and new inhabitants will be gone. The infrastructure can all be created and the houses built.

What you will never see returned – once destroyed – are green fields, woodland and country lanes.

Honley faces the possibility of at least 300 houses and possibly 1,700. This is an appalling prospect which will change the village dramatically – the biggest single change it has ever seen.

The most important decision regarding this village’s future is about to be made. So where then are our local councillors? One has contracted me privately, but there does not seem to have been any public statement from any of our councillors about where they stand on this issue.

Two of our councillors for Honley and Meltham do not even live in the area they represent and, at present, seem to be showing little or no regard for it. Perhaps we should have heard more from them if there were some elections this year? I am sure that I am not alone in wanting to know where these public representatives stand on this most important issue and in generally seeing rather more of them.

Stephen Green

Honley

Grand National tragedy

THE League Against Cruel Sports is stepping up its campaign for drastic changes to be made to the way the Grand National is run following Saturday’s fatality.

We see the race as an ‘investment in death’ and it is ironic that the winning horse was called Comply or Die when fellow horse, Hear the Echo, died immediately after the race.

This tragedy comes as no surprise, but it does beg the question, how many lives need to be lost before action is taken? The Grand National in its current form has had its day and drastic measures must be taken to prevent more lives being lost if future years.

We must Hear the Echo of the long list of fatalities and ensure it isn’t repeated.

Louise Robertson

League Against Cruel Sports

Paying Council Tax twice

WHEN everyone starts to pay their 2009/10 council tax bills, spare a thought for me and people who are in similar circumstances who have had to downsize for whatever reason, have been unable to sell their properties due to the current situation and are faced with having to pay the tax twice.

It’s rather galling when there must be many in Kirklees who don’t contribute anything at all.

If I don’t pay up, the bailiffs will be round.

A F Smith

Huddersfield

Silence of the plumbers

IN response to Alex Postlethwaite’s letter in the Examiner on the subject of child laziness, rudeness and so on.

I too experienced a similar problem last year when I left school and wanted to find an apprenticeship in plumbing.

I also sent out stamped addressed envelopes to plumbers all around Huddersfield – far too many to mention. All I got was one reply from a business in my village who actually subcontracted work out to plumbers. He wrote me a really nice letter explaining all of this and wished me all the best in my search for work.

He was the only one who took the time to send me a reply, so thank you Holmestyle.

I also get annoyed like Alex when people say teenagers and kids are rude these days. These so-called responsible adults are supposed to be pillars of the community who set a good example and be good role models to the youth of today – or yobs as some people would say.

All we want is a chance to follow our chosen career with a bit of support and guidance from these local firms.

I wonder in my case if it’s because I’m female wanting to do a so-called man’s job – makes you wonder doesn’t it?

So to all you firms out there, if you do receive a letter requesting any kind of work experience or apprenticeship, please think and take the time to reply, even if it is a polite no thank you. A lot of time has gone into writing these letters and hard-earned pocket money used to pay for the stamps.

Hannah Bright

Honley

Death of the debate

WE now hear of more and more pubs closing by the day. So has the art of conversation almost disappeared?

The word ‘debate’ is rarely mentioned nowadays. The local pub was at one time the centre where many good ideas were discussed and possibly acted upon.

I think most people will still have a need to express themselves to air their views, hopes and aspirations, even in these testing times.

We all agree that the computer and internet are marvellous technological inventions and the world could not function nowadays without them.

However, could this ever-increasing technology be in danger of also becoming mostly robotic trivia when the real personal connection is lost forever?

Brenda Holroyd

Netherthong

Time for a clear-out

HAVE you heard the saying ‘pull the other one it’s got bells on’ when you don’t believe someone’s remarks?

Well, that’s what I say out loud when I hear MPs making apologies and excuses when they have been found out for the wrong doing.

David Milliband was quite pathetic defending Jacqui Smith on the news saying the money claimed for her husband watching adult movies had been paid back.

So that makes it all right does it?

It is happening too often. What kind of people are running the country? Not all should be tarred with the same brush, but it is time we had a General Election to have ‘a clear-out.’

M Medrek

Bradley

Kirklees sell-by date

THERE have been three

major reorganisations of local government in the past century and they have occurred at 40 year intervals.

Therefore Kirklees is, in all probability, approaching its sell-by date.

On all previous occasions instructions have come from Whitehall as to what must be done and each of the reorganisations has been carried out over the heads of the local inhabitants and despite very strong opposition which is clearly utterly unreasonable.

I would like to suggest that we be ready for them this time – ready for them by deciding what form of local government we would like to see and getting it pretty well worked out so that instead of them presenting us with their fait-accompli, we would get in first with our solution.

This may not be too easy – some of us would like to see a return to the real grass-roots with each small community having its own council.

As a contrast to the monster which we have at the moment, this may be a step too far at least initially.

Could we all agree on a return to the County Borough of Huddersfield as a first step, I wonder? I am sure that even the towns of the Heavy Woollen District would even now prefer to go their own way?

Arthur Quarmby

Underhill, Holme

I’ve found Kirklees!

WHILE buying on the internet and filling in my details I could not find Yorkshire, nor West Yorkshire or even Huddersfield.

But back to the top of the list and scrolling down I came across the place I live, Kirklees, between Kingston upon Thames and

Knowsley.

What a state!

Elaine

Huddersfield