Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir,-Mr Robert Porter sees no reason for the A9 to be a dual carriageway (Friday’s Courier). He obviously has not tried to drive on to the A9 from one of the many adjoining side roads.
Last Friday I drove from Bankfoot, through Waterloo, on my way to Pitlochry. On reaching the A9 I had to sit for 20 minutes, watching an endless stream of cars heading north.
Eventually, a kind lady driver slowed down and let me into the traffic. As I drove, I noticed at the Hermitage and at the Grandtully turn-off, there were queues of cars, also trying to get onto the A9, some even hoping to cross and head south.
Of course the whole road should be dual carriageway. The A9 is what we used to proudly call The Great North Road. No longer.
Mrs Joan M. Blue.49 Innewan Gardens,Bankfoot.
Couldn’t they have waited?
Sir,-I am stunned to see Dundee City Council embark on work on Gourdie Brae while the closure of the road between the A90 (Landmark Hotel roundabout) and Liff village exit roads is still ongoing.
This will make access/egress to/from Liff and locale very awkward indeed. How are residents expected to travel to Dundee/Perth etc. when both main access routes are closed or have major works on them?
In addition this will make the roads in Birkhill/Muirhead extremely busy and congested. This will force those heading west to use single track roads from Liff and Fowlis which are not capable of carrying that increase without a resulting increase in danger levels.
Surely the works on Gourdie Brae could have waited until the Liff/Denhead of Gray road is completed?
While I appreciate there is a need to repair Gourdie Brae it is incomprehensible they would start when there is another route completely closed so nearby and which carries similar traffic in a similar direction.
Richard Laird.Lossiehall,Liff.
A lack of information?
Sir,-In response to Maureen Black (Letters, July 11): despite being involved in ex-Service affairs in the city, I for one was not at the concert she mentions, because I did not know it was happening until too late.
I first heard about it, perhaps ironically, at an Armed Forces Day reception in the City Chambers the same day. And if I saw no advance information about it, I suspect many others may say the same.
However could I just say to Maureen Black and everyone else that there is a splendid opportunity to remember all our service personnel with shared music, pageantry and emotion at the traditional Festival of Remembrance in the Caird Hall on Saturday November 5, an event reckoned by many not just in Dundee to be the one of the best outside the Albert Hall.
Col Alasdair Maclean TD.Convener,City of Dundee Festival of Remembrance.
Common sense wins
Sir,-Having had a very positive outcome to the protest over the Dundee City Council plan to install a taxi rank outside St Andrew’s Cathedral in the Nethergate, and my published letter in The Courier, I consider it only fair to write again.
Having written to my MP, MSP, the Lord Provost and others and having received very prompt responses, I am glad to say that I had a reply from the city development department which stated that due to the high number of objectors, the decision had been made not to progress with the taxi rank clearways in that area of town.
So on behalf of myself and all the other objectors, I would like to publicly thank Dundee City Council for reversing these plans and seeing common sense to let decency win the day.
Geoff Bray.Heather Croft,Letham, Angus.
An invite to discuss things
Sir,-Thank you for printing the letter from Andrew Lawson (Denial of the facts, July 13). His letter contains so many misleading assertions and half truths that it presents a real opportunity, I believe, for an exploration of some important issues.
I am a member of the Dundee-Nablus Twinning Association and we, like the other twinning associations, are committed to promoting friendship and understanding between the people of Dundee and our twin city, Nablus. Increasing awareness of life and concerns in both cities is a major focus for our work.
Mr Lawson clearly has an interest in the residents of Nablus and their views and actions in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
The association has many contacts, be they Samaritans, Christian, Muslim or of no religious affiliation. None of the ones I know are ‘constitutionally and religiously dedicated to reject peace…’
His knowledge of the wider context seems, at best, to be rather simplistic not to say flawed as he describes Israel as a ‘genuine democracy’ yet that is strongly challenged by the Jewish historian and academic Schlomo Sand in his recent study The Invention of the Jewish People.
But these matters are complicated and complex. This is not a straight-forward situation.
I therefore invite Andrew Lawson to contribute to a short series of brief articles in our association newsletter where, perhaps, he and I could engage in sharing perspectives on say two or three of the themes/issues that he raises. We would then have the opportunity to explore, rather than deny, the ‘facts.’
I look forward to hearing from him.
Fraser Patrick.Dundee-Nablus Twinning Association,17 Collingwood Cres,Dundee.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.