I AM a resident of Meltham Road and we have had our cars written off and damaged more than once in recent years as have our immediate neighbours and I am disgusted with Richard Huddleston's attitude.
He is quite clearly ignorant of the laws of the road.
It is my understanding that the speed of this road is determined by national policy and, if you look into your highway code, you will know the speed limit on this road. The problem with the speed is twofold. Firstly, it is a deceptive road and has the ‘feel’ of an A road, giving the view that you can go faster above the actual limit.
Secondly there are idiots speeding, well above the speed limit. Even if a 40mph limit was imposed, accidents are waiting to happen every minute of every day. We only wait for the next one and pray its not us and there is no damage to life.
As to parking, thank you for your suggestion to be banned from parking outside our home. We would like to walk for miles with a five-year-old and loads of shopping on the side of a dangerous road.
Many people have said how many mirrors and scratches they have had on this road and so do park on the pavement to attempt to avoid damage. You can't blame them really!
We are after a safer road and to start with, people’s perceptions need altering and I understand the council is working on this while having its hands tied by national government legislation. Slower speed limits are not the answer but sticking to the currently imposed ones is.
Also thanks to Cath Ingham for her support, but insurance does not pay for it. When our car was written off, then damaged a month later, we lost around £800. Then to cap it, our insurance premiums leapt by a considerable amount even though everything was claimed through other insurers.
Resident
Meltham Road
Nature is in control
NATURE has once again showed us who is in control and it seems we have to sit it out while the fiery beast quietens down.
The Iceland volcano has quietened our skies and caused global mayhem.
The natural happenings like global warming and earthquakes are beyond our control and nature is firmly in control.
But scientists and experts think otherwise. I do believe that tampering with part of nature can cause adverse effects on the others. Best to leave well alone until the dust settles.
Our earth is a beautiful lonely planet when observed from outer space. We cannot change its nature but we can all do our bit to protect it for our forthcoming generations.
Deep Thinker
Scissett
Great Kirklees service
I LIVE at Linthwaite, just off the A62 – a main road badly damaged by the winter weather, potholes, broken up surface, call it what you want.
I think for once Kirklees has done a great service. When did your reader (Letters April 17) last use Manchester Road from Cowlersley to Marsden? Various parts of the road are past patching.
The priority is main roads, sir! I’m in despair after reading your letter. Leave our road alone, look after Golcar.
Mrs K Taylor
Linthwaite
Time for pay restraint
CURRENT pay structures and levels are totally out of hand.
The £100,000-plus salaries that some of our council staff are getting is absolutely ridiculous.
Yet some people don’t even get a basic living wage. We should get back to Robin Hood politics of “rob the rich to give to the poor.”
My mother says that in her day your pay was fixed for many years and you didn’t expect pay rises every year.
If you wanted higher wages you trained or traded on your experience and earned them.
In modern times, however, inflation is a fact but there should be greater pay restraint, particularly among the wealthy.
People should learn to live within their means once again and have some discipline. If there’s something you want to buy and can’t afford you should save up for it.
If you can’t afford to buy the latest computer model – don’t! You’re being irresponsible if you give in to whining pleas.
If you can afford a foreign holiday don’t buy it on the never never (the disastrous credit society) but go to Robin Hoods Bay or Whitby, you’ll probably have a much more enjoyable and less stressful time anyway.
J S Kennett
Longwood
Don’t fall for this scam
I AM writing this letter as a warning and also to see how many other people fell for the scam that I fell for big time on Monday, April 12, in Holmfirth.
I was at work in a well-known and reputable shop when just before lunchtime on Monday, April a fairly well dressed man came into the shop where I was working alongside a colleague.
The man seemed fairly shaken up and said to us he hoped we could help him as he was visiting Holmfirth for the day and had come from the Keighley area.
On getting to Holmfirth and having been to the Co-op and one or two other shops, he found he had lost his wallet.
He went on to say he had rung the bank to stop all his cards, but he had no cash on him at all and needed to get into Huddersfield as he was with the NatWest Bank.
He said he had his car outside and had set off the bank when he realised he had little diesel in his car and that it was not good to let a diesel engine run dry, so he then went on to ask us if we could lend him £2 just in case his car had to be left somewhere and he had to get the bus.
My colleague looked at me as I immediately said ‘yes’ and went to my purse to fetch it.
The man was very grateful and told me he would return with the money either that afternoon or he would post it to me at my place of work the following day.
He thanked me very much and went on his way. I felt very pleased with myself that I had helped someone out in their hour of need.
As I write this letter more than a week has passed and I have a very strong feeling that perhaps I have been the victim of a scam as there is no sign of my £2 returning to me.
Ok, I haven’t lost a great deal as £2 is not a lot, but I do feel as though my trust in people has been dented quite a bit and I won’t be as ready to help someone again and that’s a shame as they may really need the help genuinely.
Oh, and that really nice man is probably on about £20 an hour with his little scam, £150 a day tax free. I have to work a week and a half for that. Please let this be a warning to others. Be on your guard.
Anne Richardson
Upper Denby
Living with the past
IN REPLY to your letters on Castle Hill, the developers who are running the campaign to pressurise the council and the councillors who voted against any further development on this ancient site which is now classed as greenbelt land are still hoping that planning will be passed on appeal.
All the people who wish to see further building on this land might have the courtesy to remember that this site is a protected site and there are laws and rules set down by the government to a council in the UDP.
“Archaeological remains are fragile remnants of the past and are irreplaceable” PPG 16 Archaeological and planning, 1990.
Castle Hill is an important part of our heritage and the people of West Yorkshire ought to be encouraged to learn more about its history and respect this archaeological site and the monument, as part of their heritage, which has legal protection under the rules and laws drawn up to preserve all such ancient sites.
Can those who are advocates for the developers imagine themselves taking the same stance if a developer wanted to build inside or near to Stonehenge!
No, they would be horrified if anyone were to suggest such a thing and that is how I and many others feel about the continuing campaign which would destroy an equally important ancient site.
It is, we are told, a Motte and Bailey Fortress on an Iron and stone Age site. It is unique. Any further damage permitted on this site means ‘once disturbed, the precise record of the past if lost forever.’
What a pity all those who want to rebuild in Castle Hill, just to create yet another watering-hole want to destroy this ancient site when there are a myriad of pubs and hotels around the region where they can go to imbibe.
The future is in understanding and learning about our past, not destroying it!
A lover of history
Kirkburton
