Letters round-up

They are at or close to the legal limit at all monitored locations around Butcher Corner and Castlegate. Air pollution is the second biggest killer after smoking, with 29,000 annual UK deaths.

Our local council’s Environmental Health Department has indicated in the High Malton housing application that small changes to pollution levels can make big differences to death rates. If the council cares about the quantity as well as the quality of life for Malton residents, it would pause all new housing applications, and take urgent action to tackle congestion, in particular banning HGVs over County Bridge on Castlegate between Malton and Norton. Those HGVs can use the Brambling Fields junction.

As it is, traffic levels on Yorkersgate and Butcher Corner have decreased by a tiny amount since it was built, two per cent, with only a seven per cent reduction in HGVs, which is clearly not enough.

The Fitzwilliam Estate, in the High Malton application, assume pollution will follow Defra’s prediction of a downward trend over the next few years, but Environmental Health has made it clear that will only happen if public embrace electric vehicles, and are encouraged to do so with the provision of local electric vehicle charging points. No one has offered this, indeed, the county council has concluded that electric vehicles are not cost effective for its own fleet.

Objections to the High Malton housing application (which would increase traffic on Yorkersgate by 10 to 20 per cent, by the applicant’s own figures) can be sent to dm@ryedale.gov.uk with your name and address, quoting reference 14/00678/MOUTE, or contact maltonresidents@gmail.com for more information.

A court case ClientEarth v UK government has forced government to come up with a plan by the end of the year to tackle air pollution levels that have breached EU levels and target dates for compliance for over 10 years. If Ryedale District Council does not do anything, it will shortly be forced to do so by central government. But lives can be saved now if action is taken locally now.

Ian Conlan, Malton

At what cost?

WE now know that the decision to grant planning permission for a supermarket in Wentworth Street car park was not only ill-advised, but also ineptly arrived at. In fact, Mr Justice Dove, the judge who heard the case in the Leeds Planning Court, ruled that the process was faulty on four out of five grounds suggested.

The council has spent huge amounts of our money in pursuit of this unpopular and unworkable proposition. Worse, they are now liable for the Fitzwilliam Estate’s costs in addition to their own. It seems to me that a full accounting of the costs of this absurd exercise needs to be published, so that taxpayers can understand the sheer scale of the waste of their money. It would be interesting to compare this sum to the services and facilities on which, I suspect, the residents of Malton would have preferred to see the money spent. I think we would also like to see the results of the local survey carried out by the would-be developers a couple of years ago.

And yet – unbelievably – there is talk of an appeal against this judgement and indeed a possible new application for a similar development. How dare the council continue to pursue this vanity project, wasting even more taxpayers’ money in the face of this decision. When you’re in a hole, the best thing is to stop digging.

Someone has blundered very badly here. The judge’s report apparently talks of “significant misrepresentation” and “gross over-simplification” in the planning officer’s summary of the Planning Inspector’s opinion.

This whole episode has been an expensive, embarrassing, pointless shambles. The taxpayers of Malton and Ryedale are paying for it. Surely someone needs to pay with their job or their seat?

David Hoggard, Malton

AS a member of the town council, I am aware of the recent result from the Estate company to prevent a supermarket being build on Wentworth Street car park.

Malton does not want a supermarket there, so I applaud the Estate for the work that it has done to quash the planning. How much has this cost Ryedale's taxpayers?

Furthermore, I understand that Holbeck are to appeal the decision against advice.

So what will happen now? It is going to be very interesting indeed. No doubt more money will be spent and the saga will continue.

However, there is more to this because I am legally advised that if Malton has a referendum under the Localism Act and the majority vote against a supermarket then Ryedale District Council would be forced into submission.

Why were Ryedale District Council going against the wishes of the local people in the first place?

As they say in Yorkshire , some people haven’t got the sense they were both with.

Ann Hopkinson, Malton Town Council

Unnecessary rant

LIKE most (but clearly not all) of your readers, I buy the Gazette & Herald to keep aware of what’s happening locally – leisure, arts, sport, local politics and business issues – and I cannot understand why you are willing to give space to a rant such as we saw from Martin Cruttwell (“Stop wasting tax on migrant issues”, July 1).

Referring to the government’s description of “people fleeing poverty and suppression”, he alleges, “we all know that the majority of immigrants at Calais are not in that category”. On what knowledge does he base this allegation? Who are the “we” to whom he refers – residents in his village, fellows propping up the local bar? Certainly not, I hope and pray, readers of your newspaper.

In his opening sentence he refers to “we normal people”, but his opinions, and his confusing paragraph, citing Churchill, our “evil” empire and the protection of the Crown and rule of law, suggest that he is far from normal.

John Collins, Malton

Knowing your MP

CLEARLY Mr Loxley (July1) and I are not going to agree on the merits of a changed voting system, but I do need to briefly comment on the last question he poses. Namely, “how would the electorate of the UK ‘know’ their representative if the constituency was abandoned?” Well, firstly AV+ does not abandon constituencies entirely, it makes them less dominant in the interest of greater fairness. Secondly, people will quickly find out whom to contact and there will be guidance to help them. Kevin Hollinrake is my representative under the present system, but in no sense do I “know” him.

Thirdly, my friends tell me the system works well in Scotland, Wales and London, so why not in the rest of England too?

Mike Gwilliam, Norton

Worth every penny

I HAVE just been reading your report about the recruiting drive for volunteer drivers for the Ryedale Community Transport (Gazette & Herald, July 1).

I would like to pass on my experience of using the service. I am a very keen craft worker – embroideries, tapestries, etc – and my nearest shop for supplies now is in Thirsk, as both the Helmsley and Pickering shops have closed.

Last Friday, I was taken to Thirsk door-to-door by a very caring and considerate driver and felt that the cost of £13 was worth every penny as I no longer have the confidence to use public transport.

CM Kirkbright, Helmsley

Time to care

There are 2,949 people living with dementia in the Scarborough and Ryedale area, but we know that many of them are not receiving the help they need. In fact, three-quarters of GPs feel their patients with dementia are not getting enough support from adult social services. The result is that unpaid family carers across Scarborough and Ryedale are filling in the gaps.

In our report – Dementia 2015: Paving the Way – we are calling for two things to happen. Firstly, we need your readers to speak to their GP if they are worried about their memory. It might be nothing, but if it is dementia then getting a diagnosis opens the door to support.

Secondly, we need to see more funding going to services for people with a diagnosis. The support in Scarborough and Ryedale is delivered by hardworking professionals and it makes a tangible difference to people’s lives, but we need to go further. The number of people living with dementia is continuing to rise. It is time for the government to seize the momentum for change, and realise its ambition to make the UK a global leader on dementia care.

Gail Browne, operations manager, North Yorkshire, Alzheimer’s Society

Correcting figures

I DON’T know the source of the figures James Stephenson uses in his article, “Little chance of payouts this year”, published in the Gazette & Herald on Wednesday, June 24, but he is wrong when he says that the Rural Payments Agency expected 95-100,000 Basic Payment Scheme claims in 2015.

The number we expect to receive is based on those who claimed Single Payment Scheme in 2014 and who meet eligibility criteria for the new Basic Payment Scheme – so about 86,000 to 87,000. So far we have received 87,315 (478 in the penalty period which runs until July 10).

Our focus now is ensuring all those who claimed get paid promptly and accurately.

Justin Chamberlain, Rural Payments Agency customer director

Listen to the Pope

I WROTE some time ago about what seemed to me a great shame about the stripping bare of Helmsley churchyard.

Many other churches around here, with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, have really taken onboard that they have the opportunity, and may I say it, the duty, to try to help our disappearing wildlife. But instead of setting aside a small area to encourage insects and other creatures, they continue to clear any possible cover. Now I see they are using weed killer, to me the final outrage. Perhaps they should be listening to Pope Francis.

Anne Stewart, Helmsley

Brilliant day

WHAT a brilliant day Armed Forces Day was. People were out enjoying themselves, supporting our fine Armed Forces and then going to see Alfie Boe in concert, who was brilliant, along with The National Symphony Orchestra’s superb musicians. The Military Wives were also very good as was Angel Blue, a soprano from California, who has a voice of an angel. Alfie was a good singer, a good drummer and all-round entertainer and the concert ended with a fine firework display.

The people of Scarborough did themselves proud, well done.

Mike Minchella, Scarborough