Sir, – The gull problem is caused by us feeding them.
The town tip is an never-ending food supply for rats and seagulls and we have one in the middle of our town owned by a private company.
Our First Minister will have our country covered in wind generators if she has her way.
She is one of the loony green brigade who thinks Scotland can make a difference in reducing greenhouse gasses.
Shutting Longannet was a big mistake. There are many ways of producing energy use them all.
The Longannet power station could have been converted and still can to burn household waste, thus depriving the rats and gulls of food and producing electricity at the same time while providing skilled jobs.
We need more off this type of power station.
No money! There’s plenty money when it comes to aid and politicians benefits. The Scottish Government never lifted a hand to save the planet – it is all talk but no real action, failed at the first fence, quite normal for a politician when you want them to do something positive.
As for the seagulls have their eggs taken from the nest on breeding sites for the next 10 years.
We can select the worse offenders’ nest. Black back gulls kill ducks. I have seen whole clutches wiped out after hatching in our yard at Burntisland
John George Phimister.
63 St Clair St,
Kirkcaldy.
Strike betrays union ignorance
Sir, – The article in The Courier was on the oil industry strike was excellent, but it does put the GMB and other unions in a position of ignorance on the operation of the oilfields in the North Sea.
The SNP Government is correct in saying that the oilfields are in decline and will continue even if the barrel price goes back to $100 – decommissioning is not priority for our SNP Government in the near future.
The UK is too late to participate in the removal of the structures in the original North Sea East of Scotland and Shetland.
Saipem (Italy), Hereema (Netherlands) and two-three Norwegian corporations have built or are building dual hull heavy-lift vessels in Korea to remove the 39 steel structures in the North Sea and elsewhere as per the development licence signed when the drilling began in the 70s.
These vessels will require a sheltered deep-water berth to offload the structure for decontamination and recycling, and only Norway has this type of sheltered water with facilities while Kishorn and Orkney have some sites, but no facilities.
There will be some spin-off for Aberdeen during the plug and abandonment phase of the producing well, plus a little deconstruction work for top sides – a small part of the overall cost, which I must point out will all be deductible by operators from future production (profit) hence no revenue for the UK purse.
The unions on strike at present on Shell platforms may find they have nothing to strike for shortly – there is little or no positive revenue from the Brent complex at
present and Shell may decide to put the whole complex into “lighthouse mode” until the oil price recovers.
George Sangster.
Woodlands,
Logie,
Craigo,
Montrose.
Stimulation plan to be welcomed
Sir, – The First Minister’s announcement of a £100 million package of investment
to stimulate the Scottish economy in the wake of the EU vote is to be welcomed.
What, however, is deeply alarming is the failure of the UK Government to say that it will match the more than £5 billion in EU funds delivered in the
latest funding programme in future.
This was something I, among others, warned in the run up to the EU
referendum in June.
The vast majority of funding is through the Common Agricultural Policy, with massive financial gains for farmers.
They are due to receive 4.6 billion euros (£3.9bn) to develop food, drink and wider rural business, especially in more remote areas.
The European Structural Fund includes 941 million euros (£808m) of
investment for communities to reduce poverty and boost skills development and
economic activity.
Seafood and marine sectors are due to receive 107m euros (£91m).
Previous programmes delivered around £49m to 1,000 projects, generating around £214m of investment and supporting 8,000 jobs.
Scottish organisations have secured £186m in research and innovation funding since 2014.
The action of the Scottish Government in funding a stimulus package stands in stark contrast to the lack of a plan from the Tories at Westminster.
It is a simple fact that if we accept Brexit and are forced to leave the EU against our will, funding for Scotland will be left in the hands of a Tory Government in London that has never had Scotland’s best interests at heart.
Alex Orr.
Flat 2,
77 Leamington Tce,
Edinburgh.
Coherent energy plan required
Sir, – It is good news for those who favour sustainable energy that Scotland’s wind turbines for the first time produced enough energy to meet all of one day of Scotland’s power needs.
But one day’s demonstration does not make a credible energy policy, not least because Scotland’s industry cannot wait to turn on production when the wind is blowing.
There are looming gaps in Scotland’s home-sourced energy resulting from the closure of coal-fired power stations, and it is becoming clear that sustainable energy solutions will only ever be part of the solution, and on their own will leave us ever more reliant on importing power.
Dogma rarely offers the flexibility required in the real world, and energy policy is no exception.
The Scottish Government seems set against nuclear power, and if its hardened rhetoric is anything to go by, against fracking too.
Yet affordability, practicality and scientific evidence suggests these offer credible options that should be genuinely considered rather than dismissed on the basis of political posturing.
Keith Howell.
White Moss,
West Linton.
No room for Next at Kingsway
Sir, – I hope Dundee council does not approve the planning request by Next to expand their sales at the Kingsway Retail Park, which takes trade from the city
centre, which is bad for the environment because it is more difficult to get to retail parks by public transport and, therefore, encourages more car use.
In addition, people on lower incomes are generally more likely to use public transport, so their choice of shops becomes even more restricted if the city
centre is downgraded.
There are occasions when the interests of an individual business do not match those of the wider community and I believe this is one of them.
Robert Potter.
44 Menzieshill Road,
Dundee.
Time to invest in housing is now
Sir, – In this period of economic uncertainty following the Brexit
vote, the £100 million economic stimulus plan unveiled this week by
the First Minister is very welcome.
If the objective is to stimulate employment, we would argue that investing in housing and smoothing the path for commercial and industrial building
projects ought to be the Scottish Government’s first priority.
Over the past 10 years, we have seen a dramatic shift in
construction industry output away from housing and commercial and industrial activity towards infrastructure, which accounted for almost 30% of a record Scottish construction output of more than £14 billion last year.
At the same time, construction employment has declined from more than 235,000 in 2008 to 175,000 in 2015.
For the new plan to have maximum positive impact on business
confidence and employment, any additional funding should be targeted towards housing as well as clearing obstacles to getting commercial and industrial building projects off the ground.
In terms of policy, a good start here would be to reinstate business rates relief for empty industrial properties.
Vaughan Hart.
Scottish Building Federation,
4 Crichton’s Close,
Edinburgh.