FURTHER to the recent letter in the Gazette & Herald regarding the littering of our roadsides and verges, practical help can be organised as we do in Settrington and Scagglethorpe with a number of local residents looking after roads leading into the villages.

This is arranged under the auspices of the Settrington Parish Council and more could be done in other areas in a similar fashion.

The challenge is constant, requiring regular forays. We have been helped by Ryedale District Council (RDC), which provide bin bags which they collect with the regular refuse lorries.

There is also a very dedicated Keep Malton and Norton Tidy Group, which does an excellent job, but more people are needed. I also believe that those doing community service could be mobilised to help.

But until we educate children in the home and at school to respect the countryside and take a more responsible approach to the problem, it is difficult to see how the situation can be improved.

Help must come from local councils and the police force in upholding the litter laws, which requires the public to be vigilant and report incidents with as much evidence as possible.

It can be very frustrating to report to the local council or police force, only to have them take a softly, softly approach instead of using their powers to impose instant fines.

Until a zero tolerance attitude is taken by the authorities the litter louts will continue to desecrate our beautiful countryside.

Flytipping is also a serious problem, not helped by the local authority skip centres being very restrictive. A vigilant public can be a great help by taking vehicle registration numbers and passing on details of time and place, etc, to the police.

We should all canvass our local politicians, particularly at election times, to consider litter problems high on their agendas. If everyone plays a small part we may yet have a countryside which we can be proud of.

John Harrison, Settrington

Good turnout

MAY I, through your pages, thank all those that attended the public meeting at the town hall in Helmsley on March 15 called to discuss Helmsley Pool’s continuance.

It was a very respectable turnout with more than 100 people attending. Big thanks must go the Helen Robinson for chairing the meeting so effectively.

The pool working group, who hosted the meeting, were gratified at the turnout and at the response from those who offered to volunteer their help.

The pool is scheduled to open in June this year and funding to ensure that is in place. The longer term issues of capital funding is under current examination by the working group who hope to secure some of the funding required over the summer months.

Thanks again to all who attended and updates will follow periodically as no doubt will appeals for volunteers when the summer comes. If any readers wish to become more involved or just find out what the session times will be this summer the pool has a new website, helmsleyopenairpool.org Chris Parkin, Helmsley Pool Working Group

Thanks to staff

MAY I, on behalf of all book lovers in Pickering and beyond, extend a debt of gratitude to all the county library staff who will will be leaving their posts, in the big changeover of library management.

Your local library will now be run largely by volunteers from the local communities in North Yorkshire.

We here in Pickering really will miss Liz and her very able team and say thank you for your wonderful courtesy and devotion to service over the years.

Kevin Butt, Pickering

Congratulations

CONGRATULATIONS to Sid and John for putting on a fantastic exhibition in the former Conservative Club in Malton.

Could this be a wake-up call for the town council, Ryedale District Council and the Fitzwilliam Malton Estate? To have this exhibition of local artifacts in central Malton, near to the Dickens Museum, must be a massive attraction.

This would bring in extra people to the town who would support all the cafes and restaurants that seem to spring up daily.

E Alan Jones, Malton