Madam, – I am writing to you as chairman of the William Gibson Trust regarding the proposed conversion and extension of The White House, 92 Hepburn Gardens, St Andrews, into a residential care home.
The William Gibson Trust is a charitable trust, established in 1862 with the objective of providing much needed care for the elderly in St Andrews .
It was later extended to include the whole of Fife.
During most of the time since the home was opened in the early 1880s Gibson House has served the Trust well.
However, the impact of new regulations and, importantly, the wishes and needs of current and future residents has changed that and as a result the trustees have been actively seeking new premises within
St Andrews for the last 17 years to improve upon our current location at Argyle Street.
The Gibson Trustees believe that relocation to the White House would be ideal as Hepburn Gardens is within walking distance of local amenities and public transport links meaning that family members and friends can visit on foot.
As with our present care home, we wish to continue to be a responsible neighbour.
We are extremely grateful the owners of The White House wish their property to be used as a legacy project for St Andrews.
This proposal would allow us to provide inclusive, exceptional care for the elderly with high quality accommodation that includes en suite bathrooms and improved communal spaces and gardens.
Facilities of this kind would provide a level of independence for our residents and allow our team to continue to provide excellent care.
The William Gibson Trust and its trustees support the appeal by CAF Properties to bring forward this residential development.
We believe this proposal will provide a high standard care home provision for the elderly, at an ideal location within the town of St Andrews and allow us to continue to provide the excellent care for which Gibson House is well known in a new 21st Century building.
Dorothea Morrison.
Chairman,
The William Gibson Trust.
May is a lion among donkeys
Madam, – Is it too much to ask for a few constructive answers, instead of vacuous and stupid comments from all those critics of the prime minister?
For starters I suggest she is doing all she can under circumstances that are almost impossible to resolve.
She has completed a Brexit agreement with elected leaders of 27 countries and, to many people who have actually read it, that agreement is wholly acceptable.
Her only trouble comes from a relatively small bunch of politicians (all parties), most of whom are not really concerned about issues of high principle or the wellbeing of our country.
To that unsavoury lot, nothing is more important than obsessive ambition and closed-mind bigotry, no matter what it costs normal, well-adjusted people.
Don’t forget that some of the leading figures in the farcical antics in Westminster are the same characters who were so shamelessly involved in the expenses scandal 10 years ago.
So, I suggest Prime Minister May is doing OK with the hand she was dealt.
And she should have been much harsher in censuring the behaviour of our elected representatives.
She is a lion trying to lead too many donkeys.
Jim Parker.
9 Banchory Green, ,
Collydean, Glenrothes.
Equality of opportunity
Madam, – In the article “Gender pay gap crisis in Tayside and Fife laid bare” (Courier, April 6) any company reporting a gender pay gap is described as “not acceptable” by Roseanna Cunningham, with a similar tone taken throughout the report.
Whilst it is admirable to address genuine cases of injustice, can we be certain that all employers with a gender pay gap are actually “offenders”?
My own experience as an employer tells me that men and women do not always look for the same, in terms of employment.
I would have thought that the responsibility of the modern employer is to create an environment of equal opportunity and of equal rights, but thereafter things must run their course.
Anything beyond this takes us into another realm of equality, in this case equality of outcome.
Of course, this would appear to be good, but is actually not far from the forces which drive Communism.
It would be much safer to concentrate on equality of opportunity; beyond this most employers need go no further.
Stuart Wishart.
12 Walnut Grove,
Blairgowrie.
Safety for toads on the road
Madam, – It was great to read about the measures being taken to help Mr and Mrs Toad cross the road to their spawning grounds (Wildlife patrol groups focus on toad safety, Courier, April 8).
However it strikes me as a rather dangerous occupation for humans as well as toads.
I remember being on holiday, it may have been in Corsica, and enquiring as to what use a foot-high fence alongside a mountain road edging
on to a small lake could be.
I was told that many accidents had been caused by cars skidding on the mass of toads crossing the road twice a year.
A low solid fence had been erected with a small pipe under the road every 100 yards or so.
The problem was solved for both toad and driver. An inexpensive solution.
Johanna Frampton.
Beinn a’ghlo, Braes Rd,
Rattray, Blairgowrie.
Switch to local income tax
Madam, – Perth City Centre Action Group reports up to 31 shops are empty in the centre.
The group hopes to reverse the trend; all kinds of measures are proposed.
We have a crisis here and our town centres will soon be abandoned almost entirely by traders and the public.
The group quite rightly cites online shopping as one of the main reasons for the decline.
Online shopping is cheaper; it’s more convenient and I suspect the Treasury gains little in taxes from the online companies.
Even out-of-town or suburban shopping centres and supermarkets have taken their toll with free parking and easy access – plus lower prices.
The authorities must redress the balance.
I suggest the old rating system should be abandoned and replaced by local income tax.
The latter would be the only source of revenue for councils, apart from government subsidies.
With the present unfair set-up and heavy business rates, traders just cannot compete.
Remove the rates charges and they might just survive.
George K. McMillan.
5,
Mount Tabor Avenue, Perth.
Upgrade for welder statue
Madam, – For the attention of the authority concerned.
Please have the bedraggled welder statue, positioned near the entrance at Tesco’s supermarket, Monifieth, either resurrected or removed.
As a Monifieth resident and one time employee of The Foundry operated by James F Low and Co Ltd upon whose “hallowed ground” Tesco now stands, it is time something is done about the bedraggled welder of Monifieth.
Kenneth Miln.
6 Swallow Apts,
Union St, Monifieth.
