Sir, As convener of the licensing committee, and the member who moved grant of the application from Khans, I am writing to clarify the reasons why I moved grant of their application.
I specifically wanted to give assurance that the arguments put forward by Khans’ representative regarding kebabs and domestic abuse played no part in our decision making.
As I made clear when I moved grant, the application was within the new policy which we had just approved.
The onus, therefore, was on members who were opposed to the application to show that Khans being granted the additional hours would cause problems.
There were no objections from local residents and Police Scotland made it clear there was no history of problems with Khans.
The only part of Ms Hood’s submission which I considered and took account of was how the business was run and what measures were put in place to ensure that there wasn’t any impact on local residents.
The rest of her submission I didn’t consider relevant to our decision and discounted them from my considerations.
There was no evidence provided from members who were opposed to Khans as to why it would cause problems and therefore I moved grant of the application.
I know I speak on behalf of all members of the committee when I say that we take the issue of domestic abuse very seriously and would never seek to trivialise it.
I hope that this clears up why we allowed the additional hours and reassures those who were concerned.
Cllr Stewart Hunter. Convener of Dundee City CouncilLicensing Committee.
30-year banis risible
Sir, Having been excluded from Kirriemuir Bowling Club, as mentioned in your article, Granny’s bowling club ban, August 28, I feel compelled to write in response.
Whilst I cannot condone the actions of Mrs Wright the granny being written about I do have a great deal of empathy with her plight.
Mrs Wright herself has acknowledged that her actions were rash and for this admission she should take and be given some credit. However, a ban of 30 years is risible, if this figure is accurate.
From my own experience I can confirm that there are some clubs where there is zero tolerance for any kind of criticism, awareness raising or any deviation which threatens the status quo.
I can only surmise that Mrs Wright’s “cards were marked” when she dared to suggest that the so-called equality within her club left something to be desired.
The report only tells part of the story but there is clearly a sub-text which only those subjected to the kind of treatment meted out to me would understand.
Bowls Scotland, as the governing body, is working to try to eliminate this one-sided approach. I suggest, however, that this body has little idea of the scale of the problem within their sport.
I wish to record my support for Mrs Wright and anyone else who has the courage to stand up and be counted.
Only when enough people come forward with their concerns be they young, old, male, female, black, white, straight, gay etc will we see change for the better.
Margaret S Pollock. 45 Lord Lyell Drive, Kirriemuir.
They need to act quickly
Sir, The Government’s bid to dramatically reduce immigration has suffered a setback with the latest figures showing that net migration rose to 243,000 up from 170,000 the previous year.
The number of people from Bulgaria and Romania doubled to 28,000.
Sir Andrew Green of Migration Watch said: “Either we get immigration under control or we accept that in 20 years we will have to build 12 cities the size of Birmingham”.
Our welfare, housing and other infrastructures will never be able to cope.
Sir Andrew’s comment shows in stark reality the trouble ahead if our politicians do not act and act fast.
Daniel Arnott. St Brycedale Court, Kirkcaldy.
Blue badge criteria
Sir, Yet another blue badge renewal refused by Fife Council because of “national criteria” (Friday’s Courier).
I suspect that these criteria are, in fact, guidelines, being over zealously applied.
One wonders how many renewals have been refused by local authorities nationally, and indeed why national criteria are being applied to an EU- wide matter, for it is the European Blue Badge Scheme we are talking about.
We should surely be using the same criteria as England, France and even Malta and Estonia? Perhaps time for a little of the common sense referred to by Fife Council’s lead in Friday’s article.
Laurie Richards. 100 Crail Road, Cellardyke.
The instant we feel anger…
Sir, To those on both sides of the referendum spectrum who use vitriolic abuse be it on social media or as was witnessed recently, both in Dundee and Kirkcaldy, towards politician Jim Murphy who was verbally attacked and had eggs thrown at him, might I suggest they take heed of an old Buddhist saying: “In a controversy, the instant we feel anger,we have already ceased striving for the truth and have begun striving for ourselves.”
Robert T Smith. 30 Braeside Terrace, Aberdeen.