The new week starts with discussion of the true spirit of wild camping, skills needs, pensioners and the Budget, and the plan to raise the retirement age.
Deplorable behaviour of irresponsible campers
Sir,-The unacceptable behaviour by those in your report ‘Wild campers mar beauty spot’ (June 24) is to be deplored.
However, this is not wild camping.
The Land Reform Act allows this as an activity within certain constraints of responsible behaviour.
The form of activity complained about is better described as roadside camping and is characterised by groups of people carrying things a few feet from their cars and having a party.
True wild camping is possibly better known as backpacking, normally carried out in wilderness areas and with everything needed in a rucksack.
Camping irresponsibly, especially if damage is done, litter left or any other nuisance caused, is potentially a criminal offence and reportable to the police.
In this reported instance, the campers may well have been wild but they were not carrying out wild camping.
Nick Cole.Balmacron Farmhouse,Meigle.
Sharpen skills for wind boom
Sir,-I noted with interest your articles on the potential for Dundee, Tayside and Fife to benefit from the offshore wind farm jobs bonanza (June 24).
With between 20,000 and 60,000 new jobs expected to be created in Scotland as a result of offshore energy developments and around £100 billion to be invested in this field over the next decade, this is a tremendous opportunity for the area.
However, while the opportunities are immense, this is a sector whose skills base needs to be geared up if we are to achieve this envisaged growth.
We outlined these challenges and opportunities in a discussion held with stakeholders at Burntisland Fabrications in Buckhaven, last week.
Adequate forecasting will allow us to see those areas where there currently are, and are set to be, skills shortages. And we will also require to re-skill workers from outwith the industry and upskill those within, while also attracting young people into the sector.
The need to attract young people is a challenge, which is why we need to make entry into it a more attractive option at school and university or college, supplying the skills in relevant areas, as well as ensuring greater collaboration with employers in identifying skills requirements.
We are working with the Scottish Government, employers, colleges and other stakeholders to ensure that the right skills are available, at the right time and in the right place to allow the region and Scotland as a whole to realise its full renewable energy potential.
Jacqui Hepburn.Alliance of Sector Skills Councils Scotland,28 Castle Street,Edinburgh.
Pensioners need unity
Sir,-We should direct some good old-fashioned anger at those self-proclaimed pensioners’ champions, who received the Budget in such a spirit of naivete and goodwill (June 23).
Let’s not be so mealy-mouthed because the most vulnerable in our society are still being treated abominably.
Vacuous utterances from non-political organisations such as Age Scotland and the Pensioners’ Forum will do nothing to resolve this dire situation.
We should excoriate the Pensioners’ Forum when its chairman is apparently happy with what the Chancellor has done for pensioners.
Britain’s state pension system is still near the bottom of the league of similar advanced countries and, even in our current economic difficulties, we could afford to provide for a significantly better and more dignified retirement for those who have built the country.
All we need is the political will, which, of course, can only happen when we use our ultimate power to elect politicians who genuinely believe in the need for urgent reform.
In Scotland, we are lucky to have such a political party dedicated to radical changes in our state pensions and, with the blessing of voters, would most certainly make the rafters rattle in both the Holyrood and Westminster parliaments.
This issue is far too important for ineffectual and toothless protest groups however well meaning.
We need to elect serious and mature politicians in sufficient numbers to bring about urgently-required changes.
Guess who I support?
Jim Parker.Pensioners’ Party,9 Banchory Green,Collydean,Glenrothes.
Punishing our manual workers
Sir,-It is beyond belief that those sedentary penpushers should consider raising the retirement age to 70 years of age.
Would they still suggest such a ridiculous act if they were builders, plumbers, joiners or other manual workers who climb ladders, crawl about on their knees or lift heavy loads?
At 70, one’s mental faculties have deteriorated to some extent and, in many situations, this could also be dangerous.
I hope these men of power will think realistically about what they are doing before their decisions become the cause of early deaths. Certainly this would lead to fewer pensions being paid out!
I suggest a month working on the roads for all in favour of raising the retirement age to 70 and preferably by those over 60 years old.
Will health and safety officers be able to maintain standards of health and safety in the workplace? I doubt it. I would be interested to hear their views on the subject.
Elizabeth Stewart.23 Burrelton Gardens,Dundee.