IMAGINE a huge HGV convoy going through your village, near the school, bus stop or toddler group, just as children are arriving and trying to cross the road. And North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) have imposed a no waiting restriction at school drop-off times, after a consultation timed to coincide with school holidays.

Amotherby, alongside West Malton and Great Habton, I have heard, stand on the Plan B route that fracking company Third Energy will use without any consultation with affected communities.

Amotherby is the only community being consulted, but on a no waiting restriction at school times for parents, being held, yes, mostly during the school holidays, when many of those parents are likely to be away on holiday.

No mention of fracking in that NYCC consultation, or of the giant loophole in the traffic management plan for fracking allowing police to direct Third Energy to use alternative routes should the route through Kirby Misperton become blocked or unavailable.

And we already know that twice a day that route cannot be used - during the school run. No such restriction exists on any alternative routes.

There are many other routes that could also be used through Ryton, or Marton and Great Barugh, Flaxton, Sheriff Hutton, Hovingham, Helmsley Pickering, and so on, circling Ryedale’s roads until they find a route clear.

Six hundred HGVs for fracking just one well that’s already drilled, and the first well of thousands.

So of the communities that have traffic issues with schools (every school has traffic issues) why was Amotherby chosen?

Ian Conlan, Malton

Who is the pilot?

THERE have been letters recently in these pages about the pilot of a light aircraft who persists in performing thoroughly antisocial and very noisy aerobatics over Ryedale, particularly, it would seem, over Hovingham and nearby. He or she is still at it.

This aircraft should not be confused with the RAF Tucano trainer aircraft which fly on weekdays, often in groups of two or more, and are painted in dark colours. These aircraft are performing the undoubtedly useful function of training pilots for the defence of this nation.

It would be in the public interest to identify the pilot of the aerobatics aircraft. These observations might help to narrow the field - the aircraft is a single engine monoplane, with a reflective surface that glints silver when it catches the sun. It has a noticeably noisy engine.

It is mostly flown at weekends, and sometimes on sunny weekday evenings.

The pilot performs repeated loop-the-loops and at times switches the engine off for effect.

From the direction of approach, it seems possible that the aircraft is flying from Wombleton airfield.

The offensively loud noise made by this aircraft must carry over an area with a radius of at least five miles, affecting very large numbers of people.

If other readers are annoyed by this inconsiderate intrusion into their lives please write to, or email, the editor and say so. Pressure of numbers could be useful.

Edward Dowden, Cawton

What goes around

IN the early 1960s I received my Income Tax Code Number on a piece of paper about 4in x 6in (100mm by 150mm).

It contained all the information which I might need and no less important information than I currently receive.

This year, as in many previously, my tax code came on three A4 sheets of paper, most of which is irrelevant. Similarly, my electricity bills, “back then”, came, hand written, on the same size and quality of paper. Presumably Ministry of Supply specification, shortly after the Second World War. The “promise” in December 1953 when LEO (the Lyon’s Electronic Office) started to work that we would quickly have a “paperless society” has not (yet) come into fruition.

Now I read there are prognosticators who tell us that we are moving to a “cashless” society. Perhaps those who have lost much of their fortune through internet hacking may wish to renounce this.

It could be that history would disagree in that such an outcome would lead to the production of branded token coinages. Green stamps and Nectar points are examples of such tokens. Some of the 18th century tokens can be quite valuable.

Ho-hum. What goes around…..

David Loxley, Hartoft