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Find common path to sustainable land use

A grouse on a moor near Amulree.
A grouse on a moor near Amulree.

Sir, – Derek Farmer (September 9) throws insults at groups of people who care for the land, rather than those who simply seek profit from it at any cost.

He urges them to “concentrate rather more on preservation of our more traditional flora and fauna” and labels the species that man has hunted to extinction in Scotland as “alien”.

Both historical and current land-use patterns have led to the impoverished ecology we now have to contend with.

If they had stewarded the land in a responsible fashion we might not be facing the various crises we do now in relation to our endangered flora and fauna.

Indeed, farmers with an attitude similar to his, and thankfully not all are so minded, are the very ones who made the decisions that has led to the present situation.

We all, the Scottish people, have to cope with the downside they created such as the threatened demise of our traditional flora and fauna.

In addition, the ground-nesting birds he appears to be so concerned with have a greater danger to face than the predators they have co-existed with for many thousand of years.

They must cope with the destruction of their traditional nesting grounds and lack of insects/food due to pesticide use.

In addition they have to compete for sustenance with the millions of alien pheasants and red legs introduced annually for sporting purposes.

Mr Farmer’s time might be better spent looking for a common path forward with those who promote the reintroduction of extinct species, many of whose presence is vital in recreating a vibrant ecology, than trying to protect the old miscalculations made by those who share his school of thought.

George Murdo.
4 Auchairnie Cottages,
Laurencekirk.

 

Refuse licence for T in the Park

Sir, – Having read your article about the massive drugs haul at T in the Park, I think this is reason for the council to refuse the organisers a licence next year.

We have already read about three deaths, a serious sexual assault and the theft of a cash machine.

Cases of law breaking have already come before the court. Surely enough is enough.

Add to all this the mess left after the festival which threatens to pollute a scenic area of Perthshire.

MSP Liz Smith talks about educating people about the dangers involved in risk taking. That is very laudable but these users and suppliers do not care. The risk is more exciting to them.

It would be far better to have longer custodial sentences and more powers of stop and search for the police.

This softly-softly approach to crime in general is not working.

The criminal element which follows such festivals and its effect on those present and the local community should be reason enough to end this blot on our landscape.

Alister Y Allan.
18 Castle View,
Letham,
Perth.

 

Drawbacks of Arbroath homes

Sir, – It seems to me that houses are being built without real thought or consideration for families or the community of Arbroath.

There has been an application for houses to be built at East Muirlands Road.

This is a lovely quiet area on the outskirts of town where families and the elderly live.

All kinds of people use this area: cyclists, runners, walkers and dog walkers.

The main road is busy with tractors, buses, lorries and cars.

The new houses will add to the traffic.

If 300 houses are built, where will the children go to school? Our new schools are not big enough.

Ruth Dickson.
3 Alveston Gardens,
Arbroath.

 

Dram that takes no quarter

Sir, – I am responding to Brian Townsend’s article in your Weekend magazine and earnestly believe that Laphroaig has actually achieved the perfect dram by the use of the quarter cask for the final stage of the maturation process.

My attention was drawn to this new range last Christmas and I have to say that I now derive a great deal of pleasure from the occasional measure of this quarter cask edition which is marketed without an age statement, and far removed from the “cough bottle” that was my former opinion of the 10-year-old edition.

I am delighted to highly commend this latest product to your readers. Perhaps Brian can elaborate or comment further regarding the age aspect but the value for money is excellent.

David Henderson.
11 Townsend Crescent,
Kirkcaldy.

 

In praise of schools theatre

Sir, – What a great few weeks it has been with Dundee Schools Music Theatre.

Barnum was fantastic. There were great singers and actors and the training the children got was superb. It was a very professional performance.

What skill the children had in Starlight Express. They had to learn to skate and dance. The whole evening was energetic and just wonderful.

Then we had Legally Blonde. This is a difficult musical to learn and sing but they made a fabulous job of it.

There were slick scenery changes and great dance routines. What came over was that everyone in the cast put their heart and soul into the performance.

Many thanks to the production team for creating such wonderful musicals and, again, thank you to the casts for being talented. You were all great.

Earl GL Scott.
38 Blackness Avenue,
Dundee.

 

Unacceptable booking fee

Sir, – I was absolutely mad when booking flights at a travel agent in Dundee.

I accepted the ATOL charge, I accepted the booking fee but when I queried the third charge was told it was a debit (note, not a credit ) card charge. I refused to pay this and went along to my bank to withdraw the money.

On querying the charge at the bank I was told this was most unusual.

If I hadn’t been cutting off my nose to spite my face I would have gone home and got my cheque book. I thought businesses were trying to get rid of cheques and the extra work they entail?

Jean Brown.
1 Dunearn Street,
Broughty Ferry.

 

Improve lives of veterans

Sir, – I was interested to read your article on an MSP’s motion to criminalise those who falsely wear medals. Do we not have enough draconian legislation?

As an armed forces veteran who served in two conflicts but was only awarded one medal, maybe I should be outraged at so-called Walter Mittys masquerading as heroes but I’m not. The issues with many of these men go deeper than their uniform fetish but the answer from our elected representatives is always legislation and criminalisation.

Princess Anne met Arctic Convoy veterans last week and, despite never having served in a conflict, she displayed a chest bristling with medals, so is she to be carted off to prison for impersonating a war hero?

Perhaps Alex Johnstone should concern himself with improving real veterans’ lives instead of becoming a Walter Mitty hunter.

David Cruickshanks.
Former RN, Falklands and Lebanon,
4 Weavers Crescent,
Kirkcaldy.