AS a lifetime resident of York, I find successive councils have failed to address the basic requirements which the town needs and should have.

1. Daily, we are asked “where are the toilets?” The almost total lack of this basic requirement is a disgrace. We berate people for urinating in shop doorways and alleys, but nothing is done about this.

2. The market in Parliament Street was renowned as one of Britain’s best, yet today it is almost unseen to many, located in an area with terrible access. The new area was a total waste of money.

3. When the area at the bottom of Stonebow was cleared I thought at last we were going to get a proper bus station like other towns, but we get more concrete jungle blocks of flats. The only well spent money was on the bridge crossing between Peasholme Green and Layerthorpe.

4. Why do we have so many charity shops? They pay little rent, no rates and have free staff, plus they are now selling new goods. How can proper shops compete when they have to pay ridiculous rents and rates?

Hopefully, the councillors might read these comments and remember them.

S Milner, Marten Close, Clifton, York

 

PETER Rickaby covers two points as regards Arctic sea ice and “black holes in our atmosphere” (Letters, July 28), from which I presume he means the holes in the Earth’s ozone layer.

He states that things repair themselves without any interference from organisations such as the Friends of the Earth brigade, as he puts it. This is not true.

Firstly, the amount of sea ice has decreased 30 per cent since records began in 1979 and to understand this phenomenon one has to understand that there are yearly variances, but we have to look at the averages over time and there has been a rapid reduction of sea ice over the last 35-plus years.

His second point regarding the Earth’s ability to repair the ozone layer could not be further from the truth as the only reason we are seeing a reduction of these holes is precisely because of the work of organisations such as Friends of the Earth in getting a ban on the use of CFCs, which were causing the damage.

David March, Springhill Court, Tadcaster

 

PETER RICKABY claims nature is repairing itself without any help from “climate change zealots” (Letters, July 28).

His choice of evidence is extremely selective. Unless expansion of Arctic sea ice becomes a long-term trend, nature cannot be said to be “repairing itself”. The evidence so far is that the long-term trend is in the opposite direction.

The “black hole in the atmosphere 30 years ago” is presumably the hole in the ozone layer. This is indeed beginning to heal itself, but it’s quite wrong to say “without any help from the Friends of the Earth brigade”. The pollutants that caused it were banned by international treaty.

Do those observations make me a zealot too? No. It’d be very nice to retreat into a comfort zone of denial, refusing to accept there’s a problem. But to do that I’d have to ignore all the evidence, except the bits confirming what I want to believe.

Alan Robinson, Holgate, York

 

IT is good news that our recent council meeting backed the Liberal Democrat motion calling on the Government to commit to the electrification of the Manchester to York route.

Although the scheme was originally proposed in 2010 under the Coalition Government, the Conservative Secretary of State for Transport announced last month that the project would be “paused”.

The result was a dispute over whether the decision was taken by the Government or Network Rail and whether it was taken before or after the General Election.

Instead of allocating blame, I am much more concerned to ensure that progress is made and the original commitment is kept, because, while David Cameron has since said that the project will go ahead, no definite start date or timetable has yet been given.

Electrification is particularly important for York because we know that it brings significant economic and environmental benefits, along with improved capacity and faster journey times. It should also provide vital links to the East Coast Main Line and eventually HS2.

This is why I am pleased that councillors backed our motion and York has sent a clear message to the Government on this issue.

Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Finance and Performance, Earswick Chase, York

 

I TRAVELLED into York by train on Saturday with my husband and son to enjoy the Great Yorkshire Fringe.

After a fantastic day, we had the misfortune to arrive at York station to find it heaving with drunken racegoers.

We boarded a packed TransPennine Express train along with hundreds of racegoers, many of whom were shouting and swearing incessantly.

Several men also made offensive sexual remarks.

I politely asked one man to watch his language only to hear him say it was past the watershed and children shouldn’t be out at 8pm.

They continued to behave in an anti-social and intimidating manner for the entire journey to Leeds.

When I got up to leave I told them that my son, by now in tears, had been brought up to be respectful and considerate to others and it was a shame they clearly weren’t.

We shall not be visiting York again on a race day.

Linda Green, Old Main Street, Bingley