ON page 2 of the Examiner (July 20) you reported on the massive increases in charges for the most vulnerable of our local people and on page 14 of the same edition you reported that Kirklees is considering giving £50,000 of our money to provide CCTV etc in local shops.

Why? We are ratepayers but when we wanted CCTV etc at our remote business we had to pay for it ourselves. The council certainly didn’t pay for it so why should they pay for it for shopkeepers?

While everyone was horrified by what happened at Cowcliffe, shops are not the only businesses which get attacked and remote pubs are often targeted.

Are the councillors saying that some businesses and people are worth protecting more than others?

We certainly don’t recall being asked if we would be happy to see public money given to private businesses.

Surely if these shops want or need security they should pay for it themselves, thereby freeing £50,000 which could be better spent on those in our community who need this money to help with their everyday living costs.

Trevor Simpkins

The Wappy Spring Inn, Lindley Moor.

A waste of money?

KIRKLEES council employed a consultant to find a new chief executive who actually already works for Kirklees.

This is one of the biggest wastes of public money that even our profligate council has ever contemplated.

Council jobs are to be lost yet they tell us they need to find the right man for the best job in Kirklees. It is a joke!

The lucky man should count his blessings as well as his eye-watering salary.

Surely we should not pay such a salary for someone who is, in effect, untried. He is, after all, a learner. Why not put him on probation for a time? Then, if he is any good, give him a small increase that would be dependant upon the economic climate and whether or not we can afford it.

Though quite how one could assess his progress in a job that remains a mystery to the people of Kirklees is open to question.

Trevor Woolley

Linthwaite

Dumping nuclear waste

I THINK we should all back Andrew Taylor (letter, July 22) in his support of nuclear power which he describes as “the only way the UK can provide power for future generations’’ by insisting that Grange Moor village becomes the UK’s main dump for nuclear waste.

If he is not willing to do his bit to combat global warming by having a wind turbine next to the village then I am sure he will happily have a shaft dug in his garden to accommodate the £54 billion of nuclear waste that needs to be dealt with over the next decade.

Hopefully this will not depress house prices in the area as Mr Taylor seems terribly concerned about this.

Why don’t we just admit that it is all too late, that the vast majority of people really don’t care about global warming and are quite happy to leave future generations to deal with the problem of nuclear waste.

From the letters in the papers it seems clear that people aren’t going to give up their cars, cheap flights abroad or be willing to put up with wind turbines and anything else that might have an impact on their everyday lives. Why don’t we just give everyone a suicide pill and then leave a note for any animals left: “Sorry for the mess we left the plant in. We were all too engaged in consuming things and worrying about property prices.’’

Stephen Dorril

Netherthong

Great Marsden memories

IT was wonderful reading once more about ‘Auntie Laura’ who ran the Marsden Electric cinema.

I used to go as a young girl as I had friends who lived in Marsden, but I never knew her proper name – she was just ‘Auntie’ to everyone.

I always looked forward to the ice-cream at the interval which they always had in those days, but I never knew the girl who sold them was one of a twin. Maybe I saw both of them but not at the same time so didn’t realise.

I went many times for a lot of years and she was always there.

That’s what’s missing about anything now. You can go in any cinema, theatre or shop and not know who runs it – it wasn’t like that then.

It is a shame what has happened to so many of the pictures. I was surprised to see so many listed in the paper, but everyone stayed in their village really.

The story said television was to blame for some of them closing, but so were cars. People started buying them and they could go somewhere else so didn’t want to stay on their own doorstep.

I enjoy reading all the nostalgia in the paper every week and I enjoyed this too. I’m sure people have memories of these things they forget but something can bring it back.

Margaret Fisher

Huddersfield

Remember BP victims

OUR American ‘special relations’ (probably not PC to call them ‘colonial cousins’ any more) seem determined to pursue a witch hunt against BP. We need some context here.

First and foremost, 11 men died on the Deepwater Horizon. Their deaths outweigh any economic or environmental loss. Second, BP was working in partnership with several all-American firms, including Halliburton. Third, a large part of BP is American-owned. Fourth, BP has spent or set aside billions of pounds to compensate businesses and workers, fix the broken well and combat pollution. Fifth, it now seems that the environmental damage is less than that following the (American-owned) Exxon Valdez shipping accident. In the face of these facts I have but one word to say to the USA – Bhopal.

In December 1984 a pesticide plant operated in that Indian town by a wholly-owned subsidiary of the all-American company Union Carbide (now part of all-American Dow Chemicals) suffered a catastrophic failure in its processes leading to the release of a large cloud of poisonous gas. Later enquiries found a systemic and deep-rooted disregard for safety.

There is no clear estimate of the number of people killed at Bhopal. Figures for immediate deaths range from 2,350 to 15,000 with estimates of up to 20,000 later deaths related to the event plus up to 500,000 people permanently disabled.

There has been no concerted effort to decontaminate the area and little or no economic aid has been given by Union Carbide/Dow.

Perhaps American politicians ought to clean their own stables first. Of course, the survivors of Bhopal don’t vote in US elections.

Bill Armer

Deighton

The clean-up cubs

DRIVING home through Honley village last Wednesday afternoon I was disgusted to see a great amount of litter strewn all over the pavement.

The trail which led from Station Road and Honley High School all the way up through the village centre and beyond was a real mess and, thanks to the rain showers, was pretty much stuck to the road and pavements.

Apparently the culprits were mindless pupils travelling on the school bus home to Meltham. How did the bus driver not notice what was going on upstairs on his own bus?

The mess was cleared up that evening by the cubs and their leaders and for this they deserve recognition. I know I would feel pretty fed up having to clean up after such idiots but they did a great job and our streets were tidy again. Thank you very much cubs!

Mrs Hirst

Honley resident

Make litter louts pay

I WAS appalled to see the trail of litter on the roads through Honley.

I was about to write to The Examiner to say what a pity it was that the culprits could not be traced immediately and made to spend the first days of their school holidays picking up every piece of paper.

However, on opening The Examiner last Friday I found that the wonderful cubs in Honley had done the job for these louts, who are well aware of the damage that litter can cause to the environment. After all, they have enough education in schools during their PSHCE and Environmental lessons.

All I can say is when these louts get back to school in September the new headteacher makes sure they write some letters of apology and thanks and what a good idea it would be for them to donate their pocket money to the scouting fund for cubs of Honley who are absolute angels and have set an amazing example of public spirit to these unruly teenagers who sadly, because they are minors, “cannot be prosecuted for littering offences.’’

Disgusted

Fenay Bridge