Sir, – With reference to the remarks made by Gordon Norrie on May 3 calling for more caravans at the Travellers’ site at St Cyrus, I would like to clarify a few points.
Firstly, on April 28, Aberdeenshire Council granted limited permission for the development and several onerous conditions have to be adhered to.
Mr Norrie might not be aware of the fact that North Esk Park lies on a flood plain.
This was determined by SEPA, an impartial body of experts.
Therefore, because 41 councillors deemed the SEPA advice irrelevant, the final decision on the matter has to go to Edinburgh for Scottish Ministers to decide.
This same body of experts has been very high profile in Aberdeenshire during this past winter.
It would almost be unthinkable that SEPA’s advice could be ignored.
As already mentioned, several conditions have to be met before final permission is granted, the most significant of these being the approval of a sewerage system deemed appropriate for a site of this scale.
To suggest another 70 to 100 caravans would be appropriate for the park is ludicrous.
Obviously, Mr Norrie is ignorant of the layout of the development.
Perhaps he could offer a piece of his own land for the travelling community.
I can only assume from his address that his acreage would lie outwith any flood plain. Before putting pen to paper in future, I suggest Mr Norrie researches some of the finer and more pertinent details rather than diving headlong into something where he has little or no knowledge.
Mrs D Petrie.
Nether Warburton Cottages,
Montrose.
Safety must be paramount
Sir, – No doubt the decision by British Transport Police in relation to the passing of the Flying Scotsman over the Forth Bridge must be very disappointing for the enthusiasts but this train is running on a busy main line and safety is paramount.
There was chaos a few weeks ago when the train was travelling south of York. Photographers were on the tracks which resulted in the train being halted and the line closed for a period.
As usual, the majority have to suffer due to the irresponsible conduct of the minority.
John McDonald.
14 Rosebery Court,
Kirkcaldy.
Museum should hand back cash
Sir, – I write regarding the wartime level of secrecy and security surrounding the route and timings that Flying Scotsman will take on its run through Fife tomorrow.
Can I ask the National Railway Museum to return the £20 I sent to save Scotsman for the nation?
Throughout the UK and wider afield, many thousands of people willingly donated money to save this iconic locomotive and restore it to main line running order.
There were even television reports of children giving up their pocket money in the hope of one day seeing Scotsman steaming.
For the time being, Fife is the furthest north Scotsman is scheduled and in view of the money raised in Scotland to restore her, surely we have a moral right to know when and where Scotsman will run?
Perhaps if all those who gave money now demanded it back, it might change the Stalinist attitude of the authorities.
Colin Topping.
Crathes Close,
Glenrothes.
Beauty of books has been lost
Sir, – Your story about a Peter Pan quote owing more to Hollywood than JM Barrie is a reminder of how they distort fantasy as well as history.
One of the things for which I can never forgive Hollywood for is the way film producers reduced very beautiful and moving stories like The Jungle Book and Peter Pan to the comic book status of Mickey Mouse, purely to make money.
Very few children will ever again experience, as we did, the magic of those stories unfolding.
Who can associate the poor, lonely, affection-starved Mowgli, or the pathos of Peter Pan, the boy who can never grow up, with the grotesque caricatures portrayed by Disney?
Laurie Richards.
100 Crail Road,
Cellardyke.
Labour did little when in power
Sir, – As the knives come out for Kezia Dugdale following Labour’s disastrous showing in the Holyrood election, deputy leader Alex Rowley is leading the charge by claiming that Labour’s mistake was to deprioritise the constitution in its election campaign.
His solution is a new policy of home rule whatever that means. Kezia Dugdale’s mixed messages on the union (and indeed Willie Rennie’s) certainly contrasted with Ruth Davidson’s clarity and consistency.
When Labour got into bed with the Tories in the Better Together campaign, it was the final nail in the coffin for many traditional Labour supporters.
Extracting that nail now will be very messy, and it will hardly resuscitate the rotting corpse that lies within.
What Mr Rowley and his colleagues do not get, or do not want to admit publicly, is the depth and breadth of Labour disaffection in the deprived communities which formed the backbone of support for Labour in Scotland for almost a century.
Labour’s reflex is to wave away criticism by blaming the Tories in Westminster and the SNP in Holyrood, but this misses the point.
The multiple deprivations in communities like Lochgelly in Fife have not suddenly been created by Tory rule in Westminster or the SNP in Holyrood.
Voters are turning away from Labour because their MPs, MSPs and councillors have made so little difference to entrenched inequalities in the decades when they did hold power.
Mr Rowley was conspicuous by his absence on the local campaign trail.
Perceptions of arrogance, cronyism and careerism will continue to dog Labour politicians at all levels until they find the humility and courage to address the real reasons voters have deserted them.
Linda Holt.
Dreel House,
Pittenweem.
Tories are no longer toxic
Sir, – Does Nicola Sturgeon acknowledge her claim that we’re governed from Westminster by a party no one in Scotland votes for, now has even less validity?
Governed from London? The Scotland Act provides Holyrood with a raft of new powers, particularly in terms of delivering not only additional spending responsibilities but crucially also new tax-raising powers.
The Tories toxic in Scotland? With more than a million votes across both ballot papers, apparently not the case.
But be assured. Ms Sturgeon admits she is planning to spend her summer generating a new raft of faux reasons why Scotland’s always good, UK’s always bad.
Martin Redfern.
Royal Circus,
Edinburgh.