I FELT obliged to respond to some of the negative 'rants' regarding my recent letter concerning the happenings on Skipton's 'Helldersley Avenue', (Craven Herald March 17: Roger Ingham muses the cause of his stroke) .

Firstly, whether approving or otherwise, I am forever willing to stand up and be identified. Regarding one online comment - I took particular exception to this person's blatant contempt of the recognition of the needs of children.

I worked for 28 years as rent collector for Craven District Council and its predecessor Skipton Rural, and one happening which has since forever haunted me was an horrific incident in the 1960s. That being a terrible event in Eastburn when I was in a house on the neighbouring Harewood Avenue and a child landed back home from school without their younger sister. Speechless in shock it would transpire after the highly concerned mother enquired regarding the youngster's absent younger sister. I would find out soon after leaving that house that she had just been killed on the school crossing. The assailant, also knocking down two or three others at the same time, was a workman tearing back to a nearby building site.

My concern, therefore, regarding Aldersley Avenue kids I would personally consider to be justified. Meantime, I merely quoted my disintegrating washing line as one example regarding pollution whereby the biggest cause has been the building site dust. Volumes of it.

I appreciate that the developers have had a road sweeper up and down but its effect has been profoundly minimal. Indeed the only time that the colour of the road ever changed back to its original self was after the last snow blizzard and subsequent rapid thaw.

On dry days every passing juggernaut fires up a dust cloud. Windows and cars facing the road bear obvious evidence of all that.

Regarding a comment from another - I sympathised with the good people of Burnside in view of all that they had previously endured regarding their nearby building site inconvenience. However, there was a great light shining forth at the end of their dark tunnel through the eventual building of an access road into the nearby by-pass. And what a great boon that has now been for many of the local residents.

For we mortals off Shortbank and Aldersley, though, all that we are going to finish up with is a Grand Prix course ripping through the housing estate.

 

Roger Ingham

Aldersley Avenue