FEELINGS are clearly running high with regard to the proposed Garden Street development, and now Sir Bernard has joined the debate, so it’s time for a new perspective!

An alien arriving on earth and picking up recent copies of the HB Times would think that this species was obsessed with something called “Parking”.

Now, even Greens understand that difficulties with parking can be frustrating and upsetting, but there really is a bigger picture here.

Who wants to explain to future generations that we were busy arguing about parking stacking (a disaster-in-waiting if ever I heard one) while the ecosystem gradually collapsed?

One side in the great Garden Street debate will say, indignantly and truthfully, that their suggestions are relatively sustainable - but the car is still the star of their proposals. I’m suggesting a change in emphasis - we’ve got to find ways of reducing car use altogether. Of course I mean improved public transport, but we each need to reappraise how we work, how we shop, how we enjoy ourselves. We just need to get the air cleaner before it’s too late!

OK, it sounds a little unrealistic to call for a wholesale change in our attitudes to cars....but less unrealistic than it did five years ago. Things can change - and sometimes they even change for the better!

KATE SWEENY

Calderdale Green Party