YEP Letters: March 8

Bank branch services still needed Judy Goodwin, Altofts When Yorkshire Bank announced the closing of smaller branches it said this was because most people use internet banking. I feel they are being economical with the truth, what they mean is we will close local branches, forcing those who have no means to travel to use internet banking. My father opened a account for me at the then Yorkshire Penny Bank in Normanton when I was born 67 years ago and they have served me well since then. Every time I go to the bank plenty of people are in there using the facilities, so I know they are wrong. I feel sorry for the staff who are being made redundant knowing there is a need for the service they offer. Keep Leeds Tidy campaign: what you think.. This week the Yorkshire Evening Post launched its new Keep Leeds Tidy campaign. New figures obtained by the YEP reveal that the city is in the grips of a littering and flytipping epidemic. Leeds has landed 8th in a national league of shame of flytipping hotspots with clean-up costs for one recent year soaring past £1million. Here’s how our readers have reacted on Facebook. Martin Walker People CHOOSE to litter and fly-tip - it is a conscious decision but everyone is so quick to blame the council for trying to save money and put it into essential services.Maybe people should take responsibility for their own actions! Ian Trory Enforcement officers patrol the city centre fining smokers for dropping fag end during shopping hours. What about during the evening when droppers of take away wrappers, coffee cups and fag ends are dropped, not a sign of an enforcement officer. Stephen Allen The area near me is nice, until the wind blows the bins down. I think in some places it looks worse than it is, simply due to accidents. I think for my next DIY project I’m going to go the corner where everyone keeps their bins and build a fence around it. Anca Ioana More litter bins needed and kids should be taught in school about these matters.Adults fined...not huge fines , sometimes £10 or £20 on the spot hurts more than a huge fine that some might not afford in the first place. John Blair increase in fly tipping all around Leeds, so what does LCC decide to do? They half bin collections and are deciding whether to charge to use household waste sites and stop all free bulky items collections... another great move by LCC. Brendon Bremner Sullivan Most of Leeds is filthy. I live in Bramley and it’s so dirty but the fault is with people who live here. I was always bought up to put it in the bin. Education is needed and more street cleaning. People these days have no pride at all John Grogan, via website A problem created by the council I would have thought, not retrieving waste when it has diligently been left out for them as it contravenes the height of the bin, less frequent collections, being too restrictive in what people can take to the tip, and fines! So who’s moving the goal posts? Part of the cut backs no doubt, yet last week the council boasted they had spent £575 million on the new incinerator. Aiden Fryer The next piece of rubbish I see I will pick it up and put it in the bin. If we all did this the streets will be spotless. Report through proper channels T Maunder, Kirkstall Well done and good luck with the campaign Keep Leeds Tidy. I do rather disagree with the statement in your Comment that people who might say negative things about Leeds are “unfortunate”. I am going to be blunt and ask that you are joking when you exhort us to challenge the neighbour with a mattress in their garden, aren’t you? I’ve never lived anywhere before where you get such verbal abuse and physical threats for questioning people’s behaviour or asking them to clear up their dog mess, litter or empty bottles as I encounter in Leeds. It never happened when I lived in Derby or down south, where those snob types live. The council can be very helpful, but these days it seems to take an age to even threaten people with eviction because of tenants’ rights, which often seem to favour the anti - social rather then the decent folk? I grew up on an estate where a neighbour was evicted after one written warning for playing his radio too loud in the garden back in 1971. Every day I have to put up with constant loud car radios/stereos. So no, I won’t be asking my neighbours to get their act together - better to report them and go through the proper procedures, it usually has a better outcome. Proposed rail link will fall short S Kavanagh, Leeds 27 Reading your recent report on the rail link to Leeds/Bradford Airport, it is absolutely right for Greg Mulholland MP to challenge Leeds City Council (LCC) Chief Executive, Tom Riordan, as to the basis of the proposed rail link, a link which incidentally LCC admits will fall short of actually taking passengers to the terminal building thereby requiring passengers to alight the train to continue their journey on another vehicle. In reality a rail link which is only a part link will be farcical. Not only will it cost millions, it will likely create mayhem in the process and probably ruin the lives of those who will suffer from the council’s compulsory purchasing of properties along the route in order to facilitate the rail link. A better and more fulfilling way to achieve such a link should be found. If a job is worth doing then it should be done right, but not the mickey mouse project LCC want to force onto ratepayers, as we have all seen those already undertaken by LCC to date. Furthermore, LCC’s City Development Director, Martin Farrington, states some of Mr Mulholland’s 14 questions cannot be answered until Government cash is in the council’s bank, how can that be? To get any money from a bank for a commercial enterprise, whether Government or otherwise, a detailed business plan would need to be presented and more so when millions are involved, as in this case. Many questions will be asked up front by the department proving such vast amounts, so answers to Mr Mulholland’s questions will likely be available yesterday, not tomorrow. To delay those answers appears to be a smoke screen, but why? To consider the provision of a rail link is, in itself, good but not the recently published proposed link which falls short of the requirements of travellers to the airport. The proposed rail link will not provide a 100 per cent service and will be as useful as a chocolate fireguard. Free dog advice for families Adrian Burder, Dogs Trust CEO, by email Many of us either own a dog or will meet one when out and about, but readers might be surprised to know that research from Dogs Trust has shown that one in three children is afraid of dogs. We are offering free advice to help families, and anyone who regularly comes into contact with dogs, improve their understanding of man’s best friend. This includes tips on how to approach a dog safely and how to respond when a dog approaches you, to pointers for parents who have a child who is scared of dogs. Thanks to funds from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, Dogs Trust is also running free workshops in schools to help children to feel more confident around dogs. Visit www.learnwithdogstrust.org.uk for more information.