Madam, – I write in response to your article “Club refusal would be missed opportunity” (Courier, January 14).
I would like to add my voice to the situation regarding the Hyperclub.
I fully support this local club and the work that it does with people with ADHD / autism and other related conditions.
It should be given every opportunity to take on a council building which would otherwise probably lie empty for years to come.
One of our local SNP councillors here in Rosyth claims to be a former mental health nurse and also claims to be supportive of people with such needs.
I would hope that she would support Councillor Dempsey to ensure that the Hyperclub comes to Rosyth and is housed in a building that is suitable for purpose. The local council and councillors have an opportunity to show that they support people with illnesses and disabilities rather than placing obstacles and obstructions in their way.
The Hyperclub should be given every help and opportunity to ensure it continues to be a success and helps the most vulnerable in our society.
I would urge every local councillor in Inverkeithing and Rosyth, and indeed Fife as whole who are in a position to do so, to lobby the Assets committee to ensure the decision is deferred so that more information can be gathered and presented hopefully allowing the Hyperclub to take on the building at a future date.
Mr Alastair Macintyre.
18 Webster Place,
Rosyth,
Fife.
Action to protect pedestrians
Madam, – The Road Traffic Act 1988 places a statutory duty on the council as the roads authority to carry out a programme of measures to promote road safety and prevent traffic accidents.
The council’s Local Transport Strategy includes an objective “to improve the safety of all travellers, giving particular emphasis to the safety of vulnerable road users, particularly children”.
What therefore are the risks to bus passengers attempting to get on a bus on the Nethergate heading west?
Firstly, they have to move towards the road, and often into it, between illegally parked taxis to hail the bus.
Once the bus stops in the middle of the road, passengers, including the elderly, disabled, young mothers with prams and walking young children, have to move between the parked traffic to board the bus.
Last week, on two occasions, I had to carry out the above movements.
On the second occasion, I indicated to a taxi that he was illegally parked.
Taxi drivers are now defining their own taxi ranks.
On the Hawkhill opposite the Globe bar they park on double yellow lines directly on the street junction and encroaching on the bus stop.
This blocks sight lines at the junction and obstructs crossing points for pedestrians.
The double yellow lines outside Dundee Contemporary Arts is another example.
It is time for the pedestrian public to be protected from the chaos in the high street.
Businesses and private residents leave their refuse bins on the pavement round-the-clock, impeding movement.
We are fast becoming a selfish nation with double standards on driver laziness, business professionalism and neighbourly relationships.
It is time for action, not just talk, by the city council to protect the pavements and bus stops.
Keith Ewan,
5 Almond Place,
Dundee.
No need for Sir Andy to cry
Madam, – I find it hard to sympathise with “new men” crying in public over the result of a sports contest or some other disappointment.
Why would they want to follow the example of Gwyneth Paltrow’s absurd bawling after she was given an Oscar.
In a long, successful career Andy Murray won the US Open with repeat wins at Wimbledon and the Olympics. Most professionals retire in their early 30s and he’s made over $100 million.
A profound sense of gratitude is surely more appropriate than yet again bursting into tears.
Rev Dr John Cameron,
10 Howard Place,
St Andrews.
Concern over Tay Link Road
Madam, – For more than 100 years a railway line north of Perth took freight and passengers over the River Tay on a line that was known for its good design, easy gradient and connectivity to towns in Strathmore.
Since its closure more than 50 years ago much of the route is barely recognisable and, in some parts, it has been removed or built on.
The plans to build the Cross Tay Link Road (Village ‘dread’ after road gets the green light from Holyrood, Courier, January 9) will not solve the problem of road traffic.
It will just move it from one place to another and for communities from Methven to Abernyte it will make matters worse.
No suggestions were ever made of using environmentally friendly ways of enabling people to cross the river by monorail, for example, and an earlier excellent idea for a pedestrian bridge over the river from Muirton fell flat.
Now walkers and cyclists wanting to commute to the other side of the river will find it a very long way round.
I believe that this tells us that targets for carbon reduction to limit climate change are little more than hot air and, as far as a lesson from history is concerned, nothing has been learned.
Sandy Main,
Quarryhill,
Kinloch,
Blairgowrie.
Is Parliament fit for purpose?
Madam, – The United Kingdom has survived invasion, civil war, and world wars with the general aim to provide a country where people were reasonably free with a democratic government supported by a capitalist economy.
However, instead of fighting on land, sea and air, with combatants in uniform carrying weapons, the real fight is within the corridors, ante-rooms and bars of parliament against those in suits carrying phones and tablets.
I refer of course to those who purport to represent the electorate yet lack the commitment to carry out the will of the electorate even after a public vote.
It begs the question is parliament fit for purpose or should it be dissolved?
There would appear to be no future for democracy if the will of the people can be ignored, and there would be little point of anyone ever voting again in any other elections.
The treaty of Rome marked the beginning of the end for a democratic Europe, Brexit may be the end for democracy in the United Kingdom.
Alan Bell,
Roods,
Kirriemuir.
Appropriate venue for PM
Madam, – In her speech at a factory in Stoke-on-Trent, Mrs May noted that failing to honour the 2016 Brexit referendum vote would do “catastrophic harm” to the democratic process.
She cited the furore created if an anti-devolution House of Commons had over-ruled Scotland or Wales when it voted in favour of devolved legislatures.
Unfortunately for Mrs May, following the 1997 devolution referendum to establish the Welsh Assembly, she voted against it in the House of Commons.
The venue for Mrs May’s speech of a china shop could clearly not have been more appropriate.
Alex Orr,
2/3 Marchmont Road,
Edinburgh.
