Sir, – I’m not one for making mountains out of molehills, as the saying goes, but goodness me, some people really do.
You would think that drivers are about to scale Mount Everest instead of bumping up and down some ramps which are in place along Riverside Drive in Dundee at the moment.
I would love to know why some driverssuddenly brake fiercely then bump up and down the 11 ramps that are in place, at a speed of one to five miles per hour.
I would say that the braking would do more harm to your vehicle than a few bumps that are less in height than most pot holes are in depth.
I have to laugh at the 4×4 drivers sitting so far off the ground they can hardly see the ramps but who reduce their speed by 35 mph. The 4x4s are supposed to be used on difficult terrain and I’ll bet they positively snort at the height of the ramps on Riverside.
Anne H F Lowe. 13 Nelson Street, Tayport.
Nasty parking surprise in Perth
Sir, – I have stayed at Crieff Hydro a couple of times a year for a number of years and always visit Perth to spend some money.
However, when I was staying at Crieff at the end of April and did my usual trip to Perth, I parked in Kinnoull Street car park, as I always do.
But what a nastysurprise I received when I arrived home to find a parking notice for £60.
I paid £1.80 for two hours and arrived back before the time had elapsed.
However, apparently I should have received a ticket, which I didn’t but since this was a new system to me, I did not know that, as there were no obvious instructions.
I am now having £60 taken from me because I cannot afford to fight the parking company.
I will never visit Perth again.
Christine Ford. Upper Braehead, Athelstaneford, North Berwick.
Council wastes school funding
Sir, – It is entirelypredictable that Councillor Bryan Poole should attempt to place the blame for the escalating costs of the project to build a replacement Madras College at Pipeland, St Andrews, on St Andrews Environmental Protection Association (May 16).
All increased costs to date can be attributed to Fife Council’s ownmismanagement of the important project toprovide a replacement for the school buildings he says are falling into decay, presumably because of the council’s neglect.
In October 2014, before Fife Council had issued planningpermission for thePipeland project, it was predicting an overspend of £2.7 million for the school.
It was also forecasting similar percentage overspends for Viewforth High School and Levenmouth School, which were still on the drawing board.
The council took a remarkable two years from choosing the Pipeland site in December 2012 to awarding itself planning permission in December 2014.
Even then it could not proceed to build the school, as a building warrant was not issued by the council until a few weeks ago.
Other necessaryconsents are stilloutstanding. Clearly then, the major delays have been caused by Fife Council itself, not by objectors to this ill-starred scheme.
Perhaps Councillor Poole could say whether a thorough risk assessment was undertaken by the council before embarking on thisproject.
He will be aware that Audit Scotland have issued a highly critical report on Fife Council’s financial management of the school project, which is due to be considered by the council’s standards and audit committee on May 28.
Rather than go along with Councillor Poole’s misdirected criticism of those who have exercised their democratic right to oppose this badly flawed scheme, the time has come for Fife councillors to undertake a total rethink before a single brick is laid.
Anything less willsimply compound the mistakes already made and truly be a waste of public funds.
David Middleton. 26 Lade Braes, St Andrews.
Enshrine rightof free speech
Sir, – The decision by Belfast County Court in the gay cake case (May 20) should concern all of us, not just the small evangelical Christian minority.
The clear implication of the judgment is that people can be compelled to promote views with which they profoundly disagree.
Gareth Lee is perfectly entitled to celebrate and promote his views on same-sex marriage or anything else.
If Ashers bakingcompany will not bake his cake, he should go elsewhere.
Similarly, the proprietors of Ashers should be entitled to promote what they believe in and decline to promote what they do not.
It is immaterial whether their viewsare wise or foolish,true or false, they should be allowed to manifest them including bydeclining to make a cake with a slogan theyabhor.
The application ofdiscrimination law tosettle these questions of conflicts of belief istaking us away from a free society and towards one where a secular priesthood of judges, bureaucrats and activists regulate every aspect of our lives.
Far better to take to heart the words often attributed to Voltaire: “Sir, I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
In fact, we in the UK need a proper right to freedom of speechsimilar to that guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
Otto Inglis. 6 Inveralmond Grove, Edinburgh.
Folly of land reform proposal
Sir, – I refer to your farming editor Ewan Pate’s excellent report (May 20) on theScottish Land and Estates conference on land reform which took place in Edinburgh this week.
Scottish environment minister Dr Aileen McLeod made the claim that proposed land reforms by the Scottish Government are not an attack on landowners.
She adds that changeis not motivated byideology.
But then she repeats the tired, left-wing arguments of trying to create a fairer society with land ownership shared out.
Who would protect and maintain thiscommunity land?
What would most people do with an extra few acres of land when most of us struggle to manage the gardens we do have?
Unlike our neighbour Norway, which has asmall population, there is not enough land or room in Scotland for us all to have a country retreat without causing serious damage to the rural economy.
A T Geddie. 68 Carleton Avenue, Glenrothes.
Nasty parking surprise in Perth
Sir, – I have stayed at Crieff Hydro a couple of times a year for a number of years and always visit Perth to spend some money.
However, when I was staying at Crieff at the end of April and did my usual trip to Perth, I parked in Kinnoull Street car park, as I always do.
But what a nastysurprise I received when I arrived home to find a parking notice for £60.
I paid £1.80 for two hours and arrived back before the time had elapsed.
However, apparently I should have received a ticket, which I didn’t but since this was a new system to me, I did not know that, as there were no obvious instructions.
I am now having £60 taken from me because I cannot afford to fight the parking company.
I will never visit Perth again.
Christine Ford. Upper Braehead, Athelstaneford, North Berwick.
Council wastes school funding
Sir, – It is entirelypredictable that Councillor Bryan Poole should attempt to place the blame for the escalating costs of the project to build a replacement Madras College at Pipeland, St Andrews, on St Andrews Environmental Protection Association (May 16).
All increased costs to date can be attributed to Fife Council’s ownmismanagement of the important project toprovide a replacement for the school buildings he says are falling into decay, presumably because of the council’s neglect.
In October 2014, before Fife Council had issued planningpermission for thePipeland project, it was predicting an overspend of £2.7 million for the school.
It was also forecasting similar percentage overspends for Viewforth High School and Levenmouth School, which were still on the drawing board.
The council took a remarkable two years from choosing the Pipeland site in December 2012 to awarding itself planning permission in December 2014.
Even then it could not proceed to build the school, as a building warrant was not issued by the council until a few weeks ago.
Other necessaryconsents are stilloutstanding. Clearly then, the major delays have been caused by Fife Council itself, not by objectors to this ill-starred scheme.
Perhaps Councillor Poole could say whether a thorough risk assessment was undertaken by the council before embarking on thisproject.
He will be aware that Audit Scotland have issued a highly critical report on Fife Council’s financial management of the school project, which is due to be considered by the council’s standards and audit committee on May 28.
Rather than go along with Councillor Poole’s misdirected criticism of those who have exercised their democratic right to oppose this badly flawed scheme, the time has come for Fife councillors to undertake a total rethink before a single brick is laid.
Anything less willsimply compound the mistakes already made and truly be a waste of public funds.
David Middleton. 26 Lade Braes, St Andrews.
Enshrine rightof free speech
Sir, – The decision by Belfast County Court in the gay cake case (May 20) should concern all of us, not just the small evangelical Christian minority.
The clear implication of the judgment is that people can be compelled to promote views with which they profoundly disagree.
Gareth Lee is perfectly entitled to celebrate and promote his views on same-sex marriage or anything else.
If Ashers bakingcompany will not bake his cake, he should go elsewhere.
Similarly, the proprietors of Ashers should be entitled to promote what they believe in and decline to promote what they do not.
It is immaterial whether their viewsare wise or foolish,true or false, they should be allowed to manifest them including bydeclining to make a cake with a slogan theyabhor.
The application ofdiscrimination law tosettle these questions of conflicts of belief istaking us away from a free society and towards one where a secular priesthood of judges, bureaucrats and activists regulate every aspect of our lives.
Far better to take to heart the words often attributed to Voltaire: “Sir, I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
In fact, we in the UK need a proper right to freedom of speechsimilar to that guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
Otto Inglis. 6 Inveralmond Grove, Edinburgh.
Folly of land reform proposal
Sir, – I refer to your farming editor Ewan Pate’s excellent report (May 20) on theScottish Land and Estates conference on land reform which took place in Edinburgh this week.
Scottish environment minister Dr Aileen McLeod made the claim that proposed land reforms by the Scottish Government are not an attack on landowners.
She adds that changeis not motivated byideology.
But then she repeats the tired, left-wing arguments of trying to create a fairer society with land ownership shared out.
Who would protect and maintain thiscommunity land?
What would most people do with an extra few acres of land when most of us struggle to manage the gardens we do have?
Unlike our neighbour Norway, which has asmall population, there is not enough land or room in Scotland for us all to have a country retreat without causing serious damage to the rural economy.
A T Geddie. 68 Carleton Avenue, Glenrothes.