Sir, – Recent reports about the future of RM Condor, Arbroath, and the redevelopment of the now defunct airfield raise several issues.
Firstly, Carol Evan of the Woodland Trust Scotland appears to be a little confused in her letter over the previous use of this aspect of MoD estate.
The RAF has never been based there. HMS Condor, incorporating RNAS Arbroath, was one of several Fleet Air Arm Royal Naval Air Stations situated in this area of the Angus coast.
One other being HMS Peewit at Easthaven/Scryne which, incidentally, was marked out and equipped for training pilots and deck operations crews for aircraft carrier operations. Whether or not RM Condor is retained – which I hope it will be – I would question the proposed use of the airfield land to develop 2,500 homes.
Who is going to reside in them? There is a golf course. Will this be lost? There is a large area of grassed land. Could this not be used to deter the use of motorcycles damaging the Elliot dunes, by the creation of a purpose-made scrambles course and combine this with an off-road four-wheel-drive course?
Could the runways, although in poor condition, not be put to some use?
There are also the concerns of the Woodland Trust.
This property could be developed for the benefit of the Angus community, rather than for a developers’ profits.
Should Condor be vacated, what will happen to the various building and the ski slope?
Houses and more residents may improve the economy of the area, but what about recreational facilities?
Geoff Bray.
Heather Croft,
Letham (Angus).
We have to pay for services
Sir, – In reply to Martin Redfern (February 24), a few tens of pounds a year for those who are better off is hardly going to have a major impact on finances.
Does he not remember that following a survey, a majority of Scots said they would be happy to pay more in income tax to help shore up our valuable public services in the face of Westminster’s austerity agenda?
Public services have to be paid for, and the inevitable outcome of cutting funding is that fewer and worse services get delivered.
Nick Cole.
Balmacron Farmhouse,
Meigle.
Hard Brexit is the message
Sir, – Michael Gove announced that the new, greener Tory party would ban plastic straws to save the planet.
This comes at a time when most cafes and bars across the country have already stopped buying plastic straws.
Schools, too, have stopped supplying plastic straws to their pupils.
We are all going radical and will, in future, drink straight from cups, glasses, and tumblers, and where that is not possible use biodegradable and/or reusable straws.
This has come about following sustained coverage by Sky News and social media highlighting the problems of plastic pollution in our oceans.
So what’s the story? Mr Gove concluded his spiel on the Government’s new greener credentials by saying: “We may be unable to do so because of EU rules”.
So it is not about plastic straws at all. It is all about those in Brussels stopping us from saving the planet and we really must take back control of our laws at all cost, and no matter the cost. Hard Brexit that was his real message.
Walter Hamilton.
Flat 3 City Park,
City Road,
St Andrews.
Do not glorify gun culture
Sir, – Could screen violence in video games be a factor in encouraging school shootings in the United States (February 24)?
I noted how Grand Theft Auto creator Brian Baglow dismissed President Donald Trump’s claim that it could be a factor.
It seems a bit more credible than the US leader’s view that the way to deter shootings is to arm some teachers.
I support the view that the media can shape behaviour as well as just reflect it, so if the President is serious about introducing some form of gun control then it is at least worth examining the effect of these games in homes and schools.
We shouldn’t be too optimistic. The famous words of the Second Amendment, ‘a well regulated militia being essential to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed’, still has a lot of support.
That support is as much as the concern about frequent gun atrocities throughout the north American continent.
But there are some encouraging signs that public opinion is beginning to shift. The students from the school in Florida recently attacked got publicity when they lobbied Mr Trump.
If protests and vigils were staged in almost every school throughout the US, I’m sure that the President and the National Rifle Association would see the case for reform. But the media should play its part too in not glorifying the gun culture.
Bob Taylor.
24 Shiel Court,
Glenrothes.
North Angus missing out
Sir, – I see that Tayside Health Board is making great progress in their cuts to services.
As a Montrose resident, it seems that the cuts are being made at the expense of services we have enjoyed in our area such as Montrose maternity unit, Montrose Royal Infirmary, the Mulberry Unit based at Stracathro Hospital near Brechin and the latest so far is the minor injuries unit, which is to close.
Many of these cuts are replicated in Brechin which is also suffering from loss of services.
The effect of the loss of services is significant as not only were they on our doorstep but their loss will at the very least be a huge cost to patients and their families as they will have to travel further to access them and in some cases this will mean going to the other side of Dundee.
I note that the Dundee East MSP and Cabinet Health Secretary Shona Robison has congratulated the health board on these cuts, which is hardly surprising given not only her party’s drive to centralise services but also because some of the services are going to Dundee.
I shudder to ask what is being cut next… and what is the reaction of our constituency MSPs and councillors to these cuts?
David May.
Evanston,
Lamondfauld Lane,
Hillside,
Montrose.
