Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir, Some people need to be reminded that, with lifelong learning, a school is a seven-day community resource and not just a place occupied by children during the school day.
The current Madras College site at Kilrymont Road was always the best option for a new school as it sits surrounded by the community it serves.
Let’s see some imaginative plans for quality buildings incorporating aspects of the listed iconic structures currently on the site.
The sacrilegious proposal to use Station Park would ruin the world famous green vista that greets visitors.
Time is not on the side of Fife Council. If they delay too long the case for spending £40 million on a single site will become unsustainable.
Joseph A. Peterson.32 Kilrymont Road,St Andrews.
Memory lapse not a valid excuse
Sir, Ken Patterson (September 29) clearly feels aggrieved at the police for his forgetfulness in not taxing his car.
I suppose it would be possible to forget to insure your car, put money in a parking meter or to check that your tyres are still legal.
Forgetting certainly would not be a defence in court.
John Strachan.23 Beechwood Avenue,Glenrothes.
Returned fine was pleasant surprise
Sir, We had a more pleasant experience at the hands of Dundee City Council than Ken Patterson’s with the police (September 29).
When we parked recently at the DCA, I inadvertently placed my wife’s disability badge face down in the windscreen, so on our return we found we were quite reasonably fined £60.
I wrote a polite letter in explanation, enclosing a copy of both sides of the badge and also a cheque for the reduced £30 sum permitted for immediate payment.
Within a week I received an equally polite letter, telling us not to do so again but also cancelling the fine and returning my cheque.
A welcome change from the frequent stories of public sector jobsworths not being able to deal with human beings.
At the risk of blowing our own trumpet, Macmillan Cancer Support’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning will now benefit from an extra £30.
Annette and John Birkett.12 Horseleys Park,St Andrews.
Aviation mocks carbon footprint
Sir, I had the good fortune to be lying by the pool in Majorca the other week and noticed something that has again cemented my belief that here in Scotland we are being conned with this carbon footprint nonsense.
My hotel happened to be on the flight path for Palma Airport. Over a period of about two hours a plane was overhead every five or ten minutes. Most of these aircraft are Boeing 737s on short-haul flights. Only when I returned home did I discover that the normal fuel load for each one is 4,700 US gallons.
It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to work out that those flights to Palma, for that one day, used more fuel than all of Scotland’s transport does in a year.
Remember some of these aircraft will do two or three round trips in a day, refuelling in Palma and then wherever they flew back to.
Let’s say they only used two thirds of their fuel each journey, 3,200 gallons each trip, or 19,200 total.
How many planes daily in continental Europe alone?
Next time I will concentrate my curiosity as to how many gallons of sun cream are used.
Bill Duthie.25 St Fillans Road,Dundee.
No cash for new council homes
Sir, Ian Sloan (September 30) commented on issues with care homes in Fife.
He is correct in saying that, in 2008, Fife Council agreed to keep the homes in council ownership and to phase replacement over several years.
Since 2008, however, we have seen the freeze in council tax extended further, cuts to council grants in 2010 and this year, and projections that may mean this will continue.
There isn’t now the money to do what we wanted to do.
Any change will mean that at least £40 million (the budget set in 2008) has to be taken from another part of council spending.
Where, exactly, would that money come from?
Do we tell our school pupils that they have to continue being educated in sub-standard buildings?
Do we have to accept that our roads can only continue to get worse?
Councillors wishing to revert to the previous plan should explain what part of the council’s budget will be axed to pay for this.
Unlike under previous Labour administrations, this administration is not closing care homes. The service will not be changing, and the homes will remain open for as long as it takes to find a solution.
(Cllr) Keith Legg.Scottish Liberal Democrats,Rosyth & North Queensferry Ward.
Energy pain for households
Sir, Living costs have ballooned: gas and power prices have shot up.
Energy for cooking, TVs, hot baths and showers is essential.
The fuel poverty budget was slashed by a third by the SNP Government. They must rethink.
When energy companies receive eye-watering profits, surely it is high time they got serious about customer fairness?
The Competition Commission must investigate.
Gordon Barlow.43 Timmons Park,Lochgelly.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.