I SHARE Patrick Swindell’s frustration in regard to traffic congestion in Malton. Unfortunately, as mayor, town and district councillor, I have no executive power.

There has been traffic congestion in Malton for many years.

This has become many times worse since the building of the new housing estates and the expansion of the existing supermarkets - decisions which I have vigorously opposed, as Mr Swindell will see if he examines my website.

These decisions follow Ryedale District Council’s policies set out in the Ryedale Plan which was adopted (despite opposition from the town council) in September 2013.

This plan prescribes that 50 per cent of all new housing and 90 per cent of all new employment development has to go to Malton and Norton.

This was partly for financial reasons to enable the council to get “New Homes Bonus” money quickly by permitting massive huge new developments, and partly because Ryedale’s country members did not want any more new housing in their own country backyards.

Malton Town Council opposed this and I attended the public examination into the plan with Councillors Jason Fitzgerald-Smith and David Lloyd-Williams and its clerk, Mike Skehan.

We warned the inspector about the traffic issues, but sadly he was not interested in what we had to say.

The plan was conditional on a weight restriction being imposed at the level crossing. We are still waiting for this, but the planners would not wait before granting permission for the big estates.

Clearly the Ryedale Plan needs changing, and I have called for this, but I have no power to change this by myself.

The town needs a full-blown public campaign. A group called Action on Traffic has been set up to consider all the town’s traffic issues.

I support the work of this group and would urge Mr Swindell to join us.

Councillor Paul Andrews

Scoop the poop

THE outright brazen apathy of some dog owners never ceases to disgust me.

Finding dog excrement on pavements is exasperating, finding it on woodland paths is annoying, finding it out in the fields is irritating; however finding bags of dog waste hung on trees like some post-neolithic decoration is damn right intolerable.

On my Sunday run with my trusty companion I came across a sickening sight at stile near Kirkbymoorside - two bags of dogs waste hung on the stile post, with another one sat at the foot of the stile.

Furthermore, at the other side of the field, hung on the stile that leads to West Pasture, was yet another bag hung there to become some other person’s problem.

In this case it was me. Having plenty of spare bags of my own I collected all four bags of waste into one of my own and disposed of it, along with my own dog’s contribution, in a dog waste bin.

Frankly, if people are so ill-prepared to take responsibility for cleaning up after their dogs then they clearly aren’t suitable dog owners in the first place.

If you are prepared to scoop the poop, then also be prepared to carry it until you can dispose of it in a bin.

David Pearson, Kirkbymoorside

Right man got vote

RE letters asking what happened to the anti-fracking vote.

To anyone who has any sense, the anti-fracking vote went to the right man - Labour.

The Tory increased his vote by seven per cent, yet the Labour man increased his by 10 per cent and reduced the Tory’s majority.

The two main people who caused austerity have quit (they are both multi-millionaires).

Fifteen more billionaires appeared in the last year and 200,000 more go to foodbanks.

Mrs May has put this country in a great mess. Only a strong socialist (not Blairites) government will put this country back on its feet.

When a football club pays a manager £17 million for two years’ work, this is where the taxes should come from, the multi-rich.

The America president is looking after his coal industry, not us. The Americans send their fracking gas to us by the boat load, why? Drax Power Station is fired by pellets from Canada.

I hate to see the windmills and solar panels, they look ugly and spoil the view. We had no global warming until they sent all this rubbish into space.

M Hammond, Kirkbymoorside