Kirklees Council is not following voters’ wishes

THE latest news about the availability of Bradley Golf Course to be added to the local plan for the building of houses is quite shocking.

A large amount of money must have been spent by Kirklees Council to create this facility, not to mention the efforts of the club’s management in creating a first-class venue.

This is now to be sacrificed so the council can be the first to submit a development plan.

This is yet another reduction in the provision of sporting facilities in the borough.

No provision made for bowlers in the new and expensive Huddersfield Leisure Centre.

These are sporting facilities which can be enjoyed by older members of the public who need to be provided with these outlets.

The town of Huddersfield seems to be deteriorating in other ways as well.

Look at the empty shops, the unoccupied stalls in the market.

Nothing seems to be done to improve the situation. The stalls in the market are excellent but they need help from new stallholders to increase the range of goods.

Grocery, for example, could make it an alternative to supermarket shopping. Are the rents too high and is the provision of heating too costly?

The town centre is not a welcoming place. Take for example the unnecessary bus gates. One wrong turn and the visitor will end up paying a hefty fine or is that the real purpose? The market car park had until a couple of years ago a barrier system where you paid for the time you had used. Why was it changed to pay and display which requires estimation of how long you need? The change itself must have cost a lot in the provision of new machines. Can it be that it brings revenue in excess charges for overstaying?

There is a great deal of discontent with the way things are done. Kirklees Council’s leaders should perhaps take a bit more notice of the wishes of the people who elect them. THE UK government has been instructed by the courts to significantly improve the country’s nitrogen dioxide pollution.

A series of clean air zones have been proposed and more are likely to follow.

London has some of the dirtiest air in the country and yet Parliament is set to vote on plans to build a much debated third runway at Heathrow Airport.

The new runway is set to be a big profit maker for transport bosses. But for the hundreds of thousands living under the flight path it will mean more pollution, increased noise and huge disruption while the necessary infrastructure is built.