You don’t live here!

I wondered if he actually knew that every week day, Leeds Road already has queuing commuter traffic facing Leeds, between Croftlands and the Owl Lane traffic lights, morning, early afternoon and evenings, or if he had thought how destructive to health and well-being is the noise and atmospheric pollution associated with the thousands of vehicles that already use Leeds Road daily might be. I also wondered if he had ever experienced having to spend 15 to 20 minutes sitting outside his own house, in his car with engine running, waiting for the traffic to clear enough be able to reverse it off the road, or had seen and considered the necessity for people parking in Leeds Road to park with nearside wheels on the pavement, or risk losing a door-mirror, or worse. Speeding traffic in the evenings is also a daily hazard, one which will not be improved any by adding housing to this area. In my view, on traffic considerations alone, these development proposals should be rejected.

I have nothing against the Rams, but can well remember that the stadium itself was built on green belt, after first having their application rejected, when hundreds of residents objected to the loss of that potential asset. This was after suffering years of local pollution from the coal washing plant, years in the presence of a large mining spoil heap, and even the establishment of an open waste land fill site, just over the border in the Wakefield area.

Perhaps some room for these houses could be found elsewhere with less concentration of traffic – I might mischievously suggest that somewhere in the Thornhill area be considered, but I honestly don’t know what problems people living there already have to cope with, and I wouldn’t seriously dream of publicly expressing any opinion on it whatever, without actually finding out.

J GOODFELLOW

Leeds Road

Shaw Cross

Dewsbury

MR Wood of Thornhill (Letterbox, April 27) who has been looking at the Sterling Schofield and Dewsbury Rams proposed development on the green belt land say it is a great idea, but the proposed onslaught on Chidswell is a bad idea. Both to me are bad.

Let’s put all this new development, including a new stadium to cater for all the new supporters that have suddenly appeared, in some part of Thornhill, including the new shops, school sand medical care facilities.

This would provide an attractive extension and addition to an existing built-up area, Mr Wood’s words of wisdom again!

ALAN BODELL

Bywell Close

DEWSBURY