Don’t sacrifice businesses for the sake of minority schemes

From: Chris Batley, Harrogate.

WE find ourselves in a time where the minority tail is wagging the dog (William Woods,

The Yorkshire Post, June 15). Our so-called Conservative council in Harrogate seems to champion the needs of the cycling minority to the detriment of business and the car-using majority.

I have run my retail business for 35 years and have seen the devastation brought on by over-zealous councils bereft of business knowledge. I ask the question – is it feasible for people on business or ladies who lunch or have hair appointments, or any other reason for that matter, to walk or ride a bike in the depths of winter? The answer, of course, is no.

Now is the time for support, to help our businesses and give them what they need to prosper, not stick the eco-knife deeper into the heart of business and commerce.

We need to make sure the town is clean and in pristine condition. There should be a standard for landlords with empty units to adhere to, with hoardings put up on empty units and painted in a required colour.

Second, tourist information, Harrogate BID, independent retail groups and all other business and commerces should be shouting from the rooftops of the glory that is Harrogate, instead of fighting among themselves for recognition and prestige.

Third, we must encourage locals and tourists alike to enjoy and spend in Harrogate, by making parking as available as possible, as cheap as possible and as convenient as possible.

Independents are the lifeblood of any town and we are lucky to have more than average. Please, please support your indies, who on the whole do an amazing job.

Don’t let over-zealous councillors wreck our town and destroy our businesses with minority hare-brained schemes.

From: Patricia Perry, Kirkby Overblow.

I HAVE been fortunate to have lived within a six-mile radius of Harrogate all my life. The motorist seems to have become alienated in favour of plans for pedestrianisation, cycle lanes, complex traffic flows and elimination of town-centre parking.

Surely now is the time for our political leaders from all parties to meet and comprehensively discuss putting alternative schemes in place?

They all know how vitally important it is to protect businesses in our lovely town, which is the envy of visitors from the UK and abroad.