The new week kicks off with correspondence discussing golf quangos, building on prime land, prison sentences, praise for the latest production by Downfield Musical Society’s junior section, and food waste advice.
Golf quangos promise much but deliver little Sir,-I know I am not the only one who is distinctly underwhelmed at the prospect of the new Fife Golf Trust (July 14).
Why do our leaders always think the answer to any problem lies in creating another quango?
The main problem with our public golf courses have been rooted in nothing more than a lack of common sense and failure to implement basic practices in greenkeeping and surface drainage.
That, in turn, must be a reflection of poor management standards at Fife Council.
So, what sort of logic underlies the decision to appoint councillors to the board? And if the main problems are a lack of good basic management, then we certainly don’t need those high-appointees from the likes of the R&A, or Elmwood College.
We are not looking for golf course standards as applied to St Andrews or Wentworth.
All we need are practical programmes of maintenance and tidiness. That can be achieved without resorting to “experts”.
Perhaps the worst aspect of the silly exercise is the attempt to insult our intelligence by claiming money can be saved by not having to pay VAT.
This amounts to nothing more than a grubby little tax-avoidance scam which is both immoral and misleading. If we are subject to taxes because we wish to hit a silly wee white ball, then we should face up to that obligation. Charity status is not meant for this sort of proposal.
And of course the claimed annual saving of £50,000 will be swamped by the additional costs involved in paying increased salaries and fees to full-time management staff and irrelevant “experts”.
As amateur golfers, we are already paying too much money to the Scottish Golf Union.
Let’s think long and hard before we embark on another blatant exercise in personal empire-building, which does not really provide any substantive benefits to the vast majority of Scotland’s amateur golfers.
Jim Parker.9 Banchory Green,Collydean,Glenrothes.
What a waste of prime land
Sir,-I went to Carnoustie from Dundee along the dual carriageway and was appalled and saddened at the spreading rash of new house building on the left-hand side.
I wonder if planning authorities ever give a thought that this, some of the finest agricultural land in the country if not the world is actually irreplaceable. What are they thinking of?
When, as a nation, we lose all our money in a recession, we can manipulate the figures or print more money. We cannot recreate the land once it is used up.
We do need houses. So, to go to extremes, we have the Sidlaw hills on our very door step. There, already, luxury houses have been built on unproductive land previously deemed quite unsuitable for development.
The environmentalists would be horrified at this desecration of our wild natural heritage but would it not be a small price to pay when our children are faced with the problem of feeding our exploding, hungry and demanding population?
All food for thought.
Gregor MacGregor.Braidestone Mill House,Meigle.
Futility of short sentences
Sir,-Why has no-one in the debate on short prison sentences asked why dangerous offenders are locked up for such a short time?
If an attempted murderer is sentenced to six months, then either the sheriff got it right, the offender is not really a danger to the public and a community sentence would be appropriate, or the sheriff got it wrong, the offender is dangerous and needs to be locked up for longer to give the prison service the chance to effect a change in attitude and behaviour.
Either way, a six-month sentence is an expensive and ineffective option.
(Cllr) Dave Dempsey.7 Carlingnose Park,North Queensferry.
Zombie Prom is a classic!
Sir,-If you want to enjoy a most entertaining evening then go to Dundee City Square Booking Office and buy tickets for the Downfield Musical Society Junior Section’s production The Zombie Prom.
They may be called the junior section but they oozed professionalism from every pore. Every member of the team was superb and I cannot remember when I last had such an enjoyable evening.
(Mrs) June Reid.12 Findhorn Street,Fintry,Dundee.
Don’t treat us like idiots
Sir,-With reference to your story about food waste advice (July 14), I was amazed and annoyed that a councillor and three employees of Perth and Kinross council can take time to treat the general public like idiots.
We are told to make a list, check what is in the cupboard before shopping, and think about special offers.
Do they think the public are fools and they do not do that already?
Obviously, the four must have too much time on their hands. It has been mentioned recently that we have far too big a public sector.
This seems to confirm that theory and, as a matter of interest, who paid for and what happened to the|two large trolleys of shopping?
Your leader comment was right. Where do they get the figures on waste and how do they separate REAL waste from things like (perishable) fruit and vegetables?
James Robertson.13 St Ninians Court,Alyth.
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