Sir, - With reference to the article about Stokesley's new library/care development: I feel that Mr Grey is using the wrong word when he says we in Stokesley were "consulted."

I attended the public meeting in the town hall when the plans. were "discussed." It was quite obvious that this was going to be a fait accompli. There was no discussion, we were being told!

It was also apparent that those representing the authority had not done their homework.Their knowledge of the site was poor as was obvious from the suggestions they were making for safety of access to it. At no time in the meeting did anyone appear to take on board, or even pay attention to, the suggestions or comments being made from the floor.

I also attended the parish meeting when the topic was "discussed" with a member of the authority. Again the same situation, he had his mantra - this is what will happen, which he repeated and repeated.

Stokesley Parish Council has produced plans to show exactly that the same library provision can be provided behind the Manor House. No-one has given a reasonable explanation as to why this cannot be done. It is our money which is going to be used so we deserve some detailed information as to how our cash is being used.

We want a new library, preferably with lots of new books as well as computers, we want state-of-the-art facilities for the older people in Stokesley, with some thought given to more facilities, not the same as at present, and we want to keep our Manor House and have that new library where it is central and safely accessible to the users.

Above all, we want some democracy, we do not like being told what we are going to get by a group of people who act as though they will spit out their dummies if we do not agree with them.

HEATHER ATKINSON

The White House,

West Green,

Stokesley.

Sir, - Proposals to redevelop the North Road council site in Stokesley are now at the planning stage.

The proposals include moving the town library and the Springfield old people's facilities and also building a private housing estate as an extension of Northfield Close. The new library and council services will be accessed through the North Road end of the site and the 40 old people's flats and 12 new private houses will be built with an access through the new closed end of Northfield Close.

Opposition to these proposals is growing and letters have been sent to Hambleton Council officials and the local MP, William Hague, and several petitions are circulating.

Access to the site is of serious concern to residents of both the North Road area and Tameside, Northfield Drive and Northfield Close. North Road is already a busy road, narrow at the town end, the narrow winding roads on the Tameside estate were designed to complement the open plan aspect of the housing.

The width of the unmarked road in Northfield Close, planned as the access to the new housing and old people's flats, is 5m. Through this narrow access will, it is expected, come residents cars, service vehicles, including ambulances, pedestrians and cyclists.

As an entrance to Stokesley Primary School is located in Northfield Drive, parents and children will form the majority of pedestrian traffic. This, together with the present school parking problems on the drive, will form a major traffic hazard.

At the recent Stokesley Parish Council agm, the chairman expressed the view that there had been a lack of proper consultation with the parish council over these proposals and there was a danger of them being railroaded through as a great deal of money, some £7.5m, was at stake.

It was also stated that some £2m of this funding would be lost if the project was not started by January 2004. It would appear the officials involved are blinded by the pound signs and are pushing theses ill-conceived proposals in the name of progress.

I hope the people of Stokesley and the planning committee will examine the current proposals and reject them.

DEREK ROBINSON

Stokesley.

Festival success

Sir, - The second Dales Festival of Food and Food and Drink in Leyburn over the bank holiday drew even bigger crowds than last year, proving the popularity of the local food experience and introducing Wensleydale to thousands of people from a wide area.

The logistics of running an event of this size in a market town creates disruption and demands a huge a mount of voluntary effort. I would like, through your columns, to thank all those people who gave so freely of their time and energy to make this a truly community effort and to thank the people of Leyburn generally for their forbearance during the week when the town is disrupted. I do know very many local people thoroughly enjoyed the festival.

The amount of voluntary effort, along with the obvious enjoyment of the volunteers, certainly proved the truth of the old saying that the more you put into life, the more you get out.

Mentioning individuals would be invidious but I would like to thank those organisations which put effort in to the benefit of the event and to their own charitable funds, namely Wensleydale Rotary Club, Wensleydale Round Table, the British Legion, St Matthew's Church, Leyburn Methodist Church, Wensleydale Quakers, Chopsticks and Leyburn Medical Practice.

We made a special effort this year to promote Wensleydale and Swaledale as a whole and we very much hope that long-term benefits will accrue to the area. Its not just about one weekend in May.

GERALD HODGSON

Dales Festival of Food and Drink,

Thorney Field,

Spennithorne.

Sir, - back to the car park at the end of the day felt like being in a huge crowd of happy football fans leaving The Stadium of Light - except they all seemed to be carrying heavy bags of food and drink. Did ever Leyburn Market Square accommodate so many?

So once again the Dales Festival of Food and Drink has been a great success.

This year I added to my pleasure by volunteering to be steward on the Monday. The organisers kindly put me on the door to the food hall welcoming people and checking they had bought a ticket. Nearly everyone had, just a few needed to be reminded and happily coughed up.

Then I was moved to the back of the tent, to look after the fire exit door. Actually that was more enjoyable, being sandwiched between Quality Fare's stall with Jane and Linda who were generous with the cake, and the Manor Born sausage stall whose salesman would make an excellent town crier. He was generous with delicious hot sausages, too.

By the end of the day, I was tired and went home for a rest. But I went back in the evening to help clear up. Just a few were there with the ubiquitous Gerald and Ann Hodgson, and Keith and Margaret Knight. It was an exhausting day. But I had only done one day. They had been at it all day non-stop for the three whole days - and for many weeks and months before that.

They will insist that there were others who worked equally hard and I'm sure that's true but they are the ones I saw and know. Wensleydale owes them and the others in the organising team an enormous debt of gratitude.

This is good for the dale, especially as Government policy, both local and national, is biased towards urban regeneration but to the detriment and neglect of the rural landscape.

Many visitors, as they left, said: "We'll be back to the Dales, and next time we'll come and stay a few days." That will be a good spin-off for the whole community.

BRANDON JACKSON

Chairman, Wensleydale CPRE

West Witton.

Family research

Sir, - I am researching the Hutchinson family and am particularly interested in contacting descendants of one branch, who originated from Middleton in Teesdale and lived in Darlington at the turn of the century.

George Hutchinson and wife Susanna had three children: Elizabeth Maud, Stanley and George, born 1887, 1890/1 and 1898 respectively. George jnr lived in Neasham Road, Darlington in 1936. His paternal aunt Emma Burney and his grandparents Jeremiah and Ann Hutchinson also lived in Darlington with son John, daughter Mary and grandsons Frank and Sidney.

KAY ANDREWS (formerly Hutchinson)

63 Black Griffin Lane

Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2DG