Readers' Letters: Why should we pay to help people quit smoking?

Readers’ Letters is a free weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

This reader wrote to the Stray Ferret in response to our article about North Yorkshire Council being set to spend up to £477,000 on e-cigarettes to help residents quit smoking.

To say I am shocked and disgusted at the misappropriating of our very high council tax is an understatement.

Our council tax is amongst the highest in the UK and we cannot even get our pavements cleaned or potholes filled. Walking through Valley Gardens after an icy night was treacherous with not even gritting let alone clearing.

Why should the vast majority of us be paying for e-cigarettes to help people quit smoking. This is disgraceful.

Cheryl Johnston, Harrogate

Meanwhile, other readers commented on the article to give their thoughts.

This is utterly bizarre. I'm a former cigarette smoker, current vaper. Vaping costs a fraction of the cost of smoking.

So why would somebody switching from smoking to vaping need to have their vaping paid for, they would save money through the switch. Subsidised vaping in the interests of public health would only make sense if it cost more than smoking?

Ryan Kett

Why should taxpayers pay for people to stop smoking? Let them do as I did. I paid for my self to stop smoking as I said the government had enough tax from me when I smoked and they weren’t getting anymore.

Leonard Redmond

New pipeline in Pannal and Burn Bridge

This letter is in response to Yorkshire Water plans to construct a pipeline to carry sewage away from new housing in Harrogate, which the Stray Ferret covered here.

I welcome this upgrade by Yorkshire Water to wastewater infrastructure in and around Pannal and Burn Bridge. This is essential to enable new housing developments in our area, and to improve the health of local rivers. I am pleased that the work includes two new storage tanks, which will help to prevent the discharge of sewage into our local rivers during periods of heavy rain.

While it is appreciated that this is a large project for Yorkshire Water, involving digging 5km of trenches to accommodate the new sewers, it is imperative that Yorkshire Water reinstate the landscape as far as possible back to its original condition, including replanting any hedges and trees that have to be removed during the project. I have therefore written to the chief executive of Yorkshire Water asking them to ensure that this reinstatement work is carried out.

Cllr John Mann, Reform UK councillor for Oatlands and Pannal on North Yorkshire Council

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

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