Saving the planet for our children

Barry Crossland, Elland

WHILST I broadly support the plans to tackle climate change by Calderdale Council and the Yorkshire Climate Commission, there is a lack of detail and I doubt if these organisations have sufficient resources to carry out their plans.

Over the past 40 years, money and power has been concentrated in Downing

Street and local authorities have suffered severe financial cuts. With Cop26 and Showman Boris wanting to make a good impression, I expected the Chancellor to support “his friend”. Boris’s ten point plan needed billions of pounds of investment and the chancellor was not singing off the same hymn sheet. There was no mention of climate change and just a continuation of a wasted decade. The Conservative Party have an idolic belief in the market economy. They completely fail to understand the impact of economic decisions on the climate and the lives of the majority of people.

Severe weather events have occured with greater frequency around the globe and can reasonably be attributed to climate change. Calderdale has been hit with flooding in recent years but this is trivial to what has happened elsewhere.

Climate change scientists know that climate change will get worse. Hence, to avoid the worst of climate change it is essential to rapidly transform the economy to a low carbon economy. The Government needs to be firing on all cylinders and to ensure that all displaced workers are retrained and employed, ie. a just transition. Even conventional economists calculate that the costs of inaction outweigh the costs of action.

The Green Party recognises the interconnection of energy consumption, housing, food, transport etc. with climate change, and have appropriate policies. Margaret Thatcher was wrong with “There is no alternative”. I am not so arrogant but to save the planet for our children and grandchildren I cannot see an alternative to going Green. It may be a tough choice but my grandchildren are worth it.

I disagree with the comments made by Bruce Murray

(Letters, Courier October

28) in which he claims that Halifax Swimming Club is not inclusive.

The club welcomes members of all abilities and social classes. Not every member will have the ability to go on to compete at county, national or international level, but for those who have the talent this is where they can start.

Halifax Swimming Club in all its iterations contributed over £100K a year to Calderdale Council for the use of facilities where they could train to dive (as Edward Wood pointed out in his letter to The Courier on October 28, Calderdale had a diving club when the facilities were available at the former Halifax Pool) and to synchro swim. Yes, the synchronised swimmers have access to Todmorden Pool, but they now pay Rishworth School, an independent school which I am sure Mr Murray would regard as “elitist” for the use of their pool facilities depriving CMBC of a fixed annual income. Unfortunately, the distance some young members have to travel to reach Rishworth and Todmorden has resulted in the loss of 40 members, and the loss of 40 possible future competitive swimmers for Calderdale. The suggestion made by one member of Calderdale’s Cabinet that synchronised swimmers could travel to Shipley to train is ludicrous. The pool facilities for clubs are available out of hours for practice, and the idea of parents and carers driving their children to Shipley and back four times a week for an evening training session is unthinkable after a school day and a long work day. The suggestion assumes all the parents and carers of the members of Halifax Swimming Club have cars. Given the council’s intention to reduce transport by car this idea cuts across the concerns we all have about the impact on the environment of individual car use. The proposed new pool at Northbridge is not fit for purpose.

The Teaching Pool should be provided with features such as slides and water cannons to encourage babies and children to enjoy the water, as well as learning to swim. The main pool should have deep water, a diving pool and competition blocks. These facilities in no way deprive the general swimmer and may well encourage young users to try diving for themselves, without club membership.

Finally, to suggest Halifax Swimming Club provide its own pool is just silly. The club paid to use the former Halifax Pool facilities. I do not know, but am pretty sure most members, and their parents or carers are Calderdale Council Tax payers so why shouldn’t they use the facilities the council provides? Now CMBC have received a £12m “levelling up” contribution from Central Government they really should provide the residents of Calderdale with a pool to be proud of, not another oblong tiled tank.

To avoid the worst of climate change it is essential to rapidly transform the economy to a low carbon economy. B CROSSLAND