Sir,– I was wondering if anyone can tell me when Christmas is celebrated?
As far as I am aware it usually falls within the month of December. If I am right then why is it that many of the Christmas lights in and around Fife have been lit up for almost a fortnight now? The Christmas lights in Rosyth, Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay were lit just a few days after the Armistice.
I have recently been paid off as a gardener from Fife Council and I am constantly told there is not enough money in the kitty to extend my contract or give me a full-time one instead.
If there is not enough money to provide a working man with a job and income then why on earth are we spending money on burning Christmas lights out of season? No doubt they will also continue to burn for some time after January 5 too.
I have put the above points to four of our serving councillors and not one of them has had the courtesy to give me a response, which I find absolutely disgusting.
I would urge the public to think carefully who they vote for at the next election because it would appear that our councillors are certainly not working in the best interests of the public and will only answer questions when it is not controversial or it suits them.
Alastair Macintyre.
Webster Place,
Rosyth.
Listen to those who live locally
Sir, – I read with interest the letter from Jamie Buchan on the “site six” development in Dundee and agree entirely with his sentiments. I think planning officials have gone quite mad and tend to forget the needs and wants of the people in the communities affected by their decisions.
In Fife, planning officials are supporting the most hideous of developments in St Andrews – a planning application for a 100-bed residence on Abbey Park, one of the most significant conservation areas in the region.
Planners, we know need take no cognisance of the impact of development on the residents but I wonder if they would support such a development in their own back yard.
And then I come to look at other parties who comment on planning applications who either won’t live with the decision or at least won’t live with it long-term.
As an interested player in this game, I watch the Fife Council Planning Portal with interest and see well written, original text being submitted as objections to the application.
I am, however, both saddened and angered when I notice six identical letters, each of them from students, some residing in university accommodation supporting the application. Who penned the letter for this technology savvy age group to write and post?
I have nothing against students per se, but I wonder if they have read the planning applications and supporting documents? Do they understand the background, context and history to the development of the Abbey Park site? Have they any idea of the promises made by the developer when they were making their sales pitch to those who bought, not only a property, but a lifestyle?
Are they concerned about the conservation area of the town? Does it trouble them that trees with preservation orders are to be felled? Do they honestly believe that retired people in the autumn of their lives can co-exist in harmony with twenty-somethings who have very different lifestyles? Do they care about the town?
I may be cynical, but I doubt any of this is on their radar screen.
Understandably, students want decent accommodation, close to the centre of town whilst they are at university. They , however, are a transient population and will live with the planning decision for four years. Other residents and I will live with it for the rest of our lives.
Dr Sandra Stewart.
Abbey Park Avenue,
St Andrews.
High street robbery
Sir, – Conventional opinion says high streets are dying. If I were a trader in central Dundee, I would be very concerned by the actions of the local authority in doing their utmost to hurry this demise along.
I would like to make a suggestion, based upon my experience on Sunday last. Could I suggest that the ticket machines in the Gellatly Street car park are replaced by a figure astride Black Bess, wearing a tri-cornered hat, carrying a brace of horse pistols and demanding in a stern voice “stand and deliver”.
Tantamount to “highway robbery” is what I faced, with charges which can only be described as disgraceful. For somewhere between two and a half to three hours – I was charged £5.10. I gather that for a full day, the charge is over £9. For a Sunday that level is abominable.
I always believed that my native Fife had the most abject elected representatives but Dundee are quite simply in a different class.
Alan Crombie.
Almond Way,
Glenrothes.
More than jobs at stake here
Sir, – To say I am very concerned about the new parking charges in Forfar, Kirriemuir and other small towns is an understatement.
I live near Forfar and the impact already is shocking. The streets are empty. I went from shop to shop asking how they are doing since the charges came in and on average they report a 40 – 50% drop in takings.
I understand the council have to raise funds but the charges are not in line with earnings in the town. We need to help the small shop owners who already have a hard time competing with the internet. Why can’t the council see that the following will occur if some kind of meeting isn’t sorted out?
Takings will drop, shops will start to close and workers will become unemployed and start to claim benefits. Landlords will have no income – you can’t charge rates on empty shops – so they will then go bankrupt and claim benefits.
Customers will not come back because they have started to use the internet. The town will lose its commercial worth, property prices will drop and unemployment will increase, as will the crime rate.
Small towns will become ghost towns, with no income and property standing empty for years, which will lead to a drop in tourism
If this isn’t nipped in the bud we stand to lose more than just jobs.
There must be a middle ground – a compromise where the shopkeepers work with the council to make towns better. As it stands no one has visited the shops, talked to the owners or even listened to what the local people have to say.
It is so sad to see this damage unfolding right in front of our eyes.
Phill Ingham.
Braehead Cottage,
Finavon.
Charging ought to start at home
Sir, – I had to attend a meeting at Angus House, Forfar, last week and couldn’t find a space to park in their car park.
Has any thought been given to charging council employees for parking at Angus House so that they find somewhere else to park as most other people do in Angus so that I can find a space?
Ronald James.
Golf Place,
Kirriemuir.
When numbers don’t add up
Sir, – There is presently a concern that children are being led into a life of gambling by access to scratch cards.
When I was an apprentice accountant there was a tradition that each member of staff would bet on the Derby and the Grand National. Up to this point in my life I had never placed a bet on anything but my refusal to bet was not accepted and I was obliged to give two days lunch money on a bet at the Derby. A similar situation arose at the Grand National. On both occasions I lost.
The office I worked in audited the books of Dundee’s biggest bookmaker who was making a profit that even today would be considered big.
In year two of my apprenticeship I pointed this out to my workmates and made it clear that I would hold on to my lunch money.
A A Bullions.
Glencairn Crescent,
Leven.
Will we have a sporting chance?
Sir, – Does anyone know if UK sportsmen and sportswomen will be eligible to compete in European Championship tournaments such as football, athletics, swimming, skating, golf etc after Brexit?
James Stevenson.
Drummond Avenue,
Auchterarder.
