Letters round-up

If you look behind the figures, it shows you that snapshot statistics can be extremely misleading. For instance, does anyone seriously believe that zero per cent of students leaving Ampleforth College fail to gain a single GCSE?

Also, speaking as a parent, what I care about is the qualification that my child leaves school with – not a table which tells me how children did on their first attempt at the exam.

Parents of students at Malton School, where my own son is a pupil, will be far more encouraged to see that 82 per cent of the children left the school in 2015 with five grade A-C GCSEs, including maths and English. These fantastic results achieved by the children put Malton among the top five per cent of schools in the country.

And as all the head teachers of the local schools said in your article, education is not about statistics but about how each and every child progresses and fulfils their potential in a multitude of ways, not all of which will be exam performance.

For parents choosing secondary schools for their child, league tables give you a small piece of not always accurate information.

The best way to judge a school is to pay a visit, meet the pupils and the teachers who are at the heart of a good school.

Sarah Banks, Huttons Ambo

Are opt-outs gone?

THE more I read and learn about the European Union and the principal treaties, Rome, Lisbon, Maastricht etc. the more I wonder about the mentality of the UK governments over the past 55 years.

By the end of 1996, we had five ‘opt-out’ conditions: 1) The Schengen Agreement, but with ‘opt-in’ on a case-by-case basis (a strange one that). Now we are having problems with an agreement which might apply to us.

2) Economic and Monetary Union; in which case why is our PM trying to get the pound sterling recognised as an ‘official’ currency?

3) Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; why then can someone claim entry into the UK on the basis of ‘human rights’?

4) Area of Freedom, Security and Justice; (with ‘opt-in’ on a case-by-case basis, another ‘odd’ one). So why are our legal and judiciary protocols being dictated by the EU.

5) The Social Chapter; This, essentially, covers law. The first act of prime minister Tony Blair in 1997 was to abolish the opt-out.

I have the feeling that many of our hard-won ‘opt-outs’ have been abolished or abandoned over the years, but without telling us.

We are being guided slowly but very firmly, like a flock of sheep ignorant of their fate, into a ‘super-state’. This is not what our fathers and grandfathers fought and died to achieve.

Peace between sovereign nations can exist, even with a little occasional petulance, without the need for an oppressive and dictatorial ‘super-government’.

D Loxley, Hartoft

Put humans first

A MAJOR cause of flooding is simply the hindrance of water flow, particularly in our rivers, caused by a build-up of silt and vegetation.

Our forefathers, over centuries, were well aware of the vital importance of removing the silt and vegetation in order to maintain adequate water flow, to rapidly move excessive water (rainfall), and thereby, greatly eliminate the inevitable risk of flooding.

The Derwent River downstream of Malton is in a disgraceful state. It is silted up and overgrown with willow trees.

So you may well ask the question as to why the Environment Agency and others choose to ignore such fundamental basic proven drainage principals? It is because of the “European Union Framework Directive, which, largely prevents the Environment Agency from dredging and removing vegetation from our rivers. All for the protection of wildlife habitat, at the expense of human habitat. What madness is that?”

The Environment Agency cwould do well to stop listening to such absurd directives from Brussels (as do the Dutch).

If my home had been flooded, that is where I would be pointing the finger of blame, and be asking serious questions about their river management policies.

Instead, they spend millions, and are preparing to spend many more millions, on so-called flood defences which are proving far less effective than the solutions carried out by our forefathers who did not have degrees in this, or diplomas in that, just a common sense of drainage principals taught by their fathers and their fathers before them.

In Malton/Norton, there remains a huge risk that the river could top the existing flood defences, causing many more homes to be damaged by flood water – that is, until the river, here and elsewhere, is dredged and cleared of impeding silt and vegetation.

Richard Farnsworth, Barton-le-Street

Fracking frenzy

I WANT to thank Nigel Copsey for his informative letter (January 20) about the fracking frenzy being pushed by the current government, against the wishes of the majority of UK residents.

On January 19, I was sent a link from Kevin Hollinrake’s office to a House of Commons research report on shale gas and fracking written in June and just released.

I would urge everyone to read it and look at the link to the interactive map showing that the vast majority of activity will be taking part across a huge swath of Northern England: researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06073/SN06073.pdf I would like to point out the only very brief mention of the fact that the proposed underground access permission process would also apply to geothermal licenses.

Yorkshire (particularly East Yorkshire) is sitting on one of the most promising sites in the UK for power that could supply enormous amounts of energy, also requires drilling and the associated employment benefits, but with far lower possibility of air and water pollution.

The current government is backpedalling as fast as possible on its already meagre support for alternative power and reductions to the UK carbon footprint.

I would like to ask why geothermal energy is not being pushed rather than fracking, though I fear the answer lies in Mr Copsey’s letter and the sad fact that the government is truly deep in the pockets of the gas and oil industry.

Jean McKendree, Westow

No democracy

AN OPEN letter to MP Kevin Hollinrake: Why did you plan a “producers summit” for the day before North Yorkshire County Council were due to make the crucial decision on whether to allow fracking at Kirby Misperton? Is that decision a foregone conclusion? Is this meeting to see “what fracking will look like”, or to divide up the North between the shale gas extraction companies? Is this what your “Regional Plan” is – who gets which region of our countryside and heritage to destroy? Are representatives of your constituents who oppose fracking invited, or just the producers who will only have one view point? Is that how democracy works?

Are you aware that many insurance companies will not insure against fracking-related damage, which includes contamination caused by polluted water from a fracking site being spread during flooding?

Mr Hollinrake, where will you live once our beautiful landscape is an abandoned industrial wasteland? Will you move south to live near to David Cameron where you know that you will always be safe from fracking, and forget you were ever proud to be a Yorkshireman?

J Illingworth, Norton on Derwent

MP dead wrong

I WRITE regarding Kevin Hollinrake’s comments in a recent debate in the House of Commons.

He yet again made large generalised sweeping statements in favour of fracking. His empty reassurances about the industry being compatible with daily life wouldn’t be possible. How could we continue with our rural way of life, with the food production, tourism and farming with the fracking industry bringing hundreds of wells, pipelines, and HGV traffic to disrupt the area?

Mr Hollinrake seems intent on being a self-appointed champion for the fracking industry, forging ahead to push this unnecessary and unwanted, dangerous industry upon both his local residents and other regions of the UK.

There is certainly no democracy in this country as we as residents Mr Hollinrake’s constituency for Thirsk and Malton have seen.

Anne Nightingale, Helmsley

Big ‘thank you’

MAY I, through the Gazette, personally thank all the catering staff at Norton College under the guidance of Sarah Frankish, the local members of the Lions and Rotary organisations for both their assistance and donations and all those who gave up their time voluntarily to assist on the day.

Excellent performances from members of Dance Expression and the Jazz Band helped all those in attendance to enjoy a most memorable day.

Thank you – look forward to seeing you all next year.

Ray King, Norton Council