Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir, In Tuesday’s piece about Dundee House, Dundee Civic Trust criticised the design, or the lack of sympathetic design. They stated the external aspect shows no architectural grammar.
I decided to see for myself this ungrammatically designed building that cost £34 million of taxpayers’ money.
Arriving at one of the ”front entrances”, that off North Lindsay Street, the only thing missing from that elevation is the bin recess and wheely bins. It is a disgrace and if that entry was actually designed by professionals then I shall put myself forward as an architectural designer as, after all, I have experience of painting bricks.
For the benefit of Dundee and its population may we hope the council will come up with a use for this design atrocity, perhaps with the use of imaginative lighting; possibly an arcade with vendors of local fresh market produce; a tourist info point; or, perhaps, even a public arts venue where artists and students of Duncan of Jordanstone and Dundee College can exhibit their works?
At least make it into a plaza with bright flooring and close-up or glaze the lorry entrances. It should not be passed off as a main entrance to the public as it is an insult to what, I assume, is a forward-looking, modern city with technology and design as two of its main attractions.
The alternative front elevation looks more modern, of course, reminiscent of Whitfield housing estate when it first went up, or a Russian Politburo building from the 1960s.
I have noticed the fascination our city planners and architects have with square buildings. A total lack of imagination; a total lack of interest in the new materials used in building.
Yes, the use of glass on the upper floors, virtually impossible to see from the street and only then from the back ”front” entrance in North Lindsay Street. Just like the ”glass penthouse suite” proposed for the old Tay Hotel which was continually refused planning permission as it was deemed to be out of character to the building.
Arthur Gall.Studio 14D,Pitalpin Court,Dundee.
Union has saved us from ourselves
Sir, It would appear that Scotland is the only place in the world that is blighted by vast amounts of natural resources, be it people, on the land, in or under the seas; with our only recourse to offload such an embarrassment of riches outwith our native land as cheaply as possible.
So it is indeed fortunate that Westminster politicians keep reminding Scots how lucky we are in being too stupid, too poor and too wee under the Union, otherwise we would have to endure under independence the horrendous prospect of being too smart, too rich, and too worldly.
Malcolm McCandless.40 Muirfield Crescent,Dundee.
Wrong people being penalised
Sir, If the Scottish Executive think they will solve Scotland’s binge-drinking problem by imposing minimum pricing for alcohol, they are sadly mistaken. High costs and risks do not deter drug addicts; higher prices will not persuade binge-drinkers to drink in moderation.
The answer is to close pubs and clubs selling alcohol at a reasonable hour, as was the case in the past.
There should also be stricter supervision of premises selling alcoholic drinks, with a rising scale of penalties for proprietors who sell alcohol to customers who are too young or too inebriated.
Any disorder inside or directly outside such premises should lead to their possible closure if it can be proved the proprietors did not exercise proper control over their customers.
The police should not allow drunks to pollute our streets with their noise, disruption, fighting, drinking, vandalism and urinating.
As in the past, drunks should be removed to the local police stations to sober up and appear for sentencing before the courts in the morning.
Increasing the price of wine, beer, cider and spirits? It will not stop the binge-drinkers, but it will penalise the law-abiding and civilised drinkers who like a couple of glasses of wine or a pint of beer with their meals.
This proposal is yet another of the daft notions of Alex Salmond’s regime to place alongside banning nuclear power and desecrating our beautiful land with thousands of windfarms.
George K. McMillan.5 Mount Tabor Avenue,Perth.
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.