Sir, – In April 2015, Councillor Bryan Poole stated in The Courier that “Cupar North is generally a development with little support in Cupar, although it is supported by landowners, developers and consultants”.
Was he elected to represent residents, or only those with a financial interest in this proposal?
It is estimated that the application (1,400 units) would increase the size of Cupar by 30%.
The western extension in St Andrews (more than 1,000 units) would increase the size of that small historic town by about 25%.
There is a proposal to increase the size of Strathkinness by 20% (76 units).
These percentage increases are destructive and out of scale for the small settlements on which they are based. They are likely to cause development misery for years ahead.
Cupar North and St Andrews West were initially proposed 10 years ago, before the global economic crisis.
Despite thousands of objections, Fife Council succeeded in getting them approved.
St Andrews is surrounded by developments which have never happened, have faltered before completion, or have changed hands in mid-stream.
Isn’t it time for sanity, and a realistic assessment of these speculative applications?
Will Councillor Poole’s concerns about whether NHS Fife can cope with these increases be addressed?
How will the huge Cupar bypass be funded?
Single-handedly, Councillor Poole put a proposal to the council’s executive committee, subsequently approved, to stipulate that the relief road should be completed within five years of the first house being built. And if it isn’t?
Cupar North is probably the largest development ever to be proposed in north-east Fife.
The portents are not good the opposition from residents, the uncertain financial positions of Fife Council and NHS Fife, and the lone flag-waving from Councillor Poole are unlikely to add up to a successful outcome.
(Miss) P. M. Uprichard. Littleridge, Hepburn Gardens, St Andrews.
Dundee will have role
Sir, – The claims made in Friday’s Courier article about the potential Ninewells major trauma centre are simply not true.
They also do a real disservice to the clinicians and planners from NHS Tayside and elsewhere currently working on the plans.
Good progress continues to be made with the development of a network of major trauma centres and trauma units across Scotland. Dundee will have an essential role within the network no matter what final decision is made on the shape of trauma services.
We estimate that an additional 40 lives a year can be saved, with many thousands benefiting, from the enhanced care that a major trauma network offers. However, in order to achieve this, it is extremely important we get the model of care right.
Research conducted since we first announced the model means that some clinicians who of course are the key voices on this feel we need to look carefully at the most appropriate network for Scotland. This is partly because the highly specialised teams working in major trauma centres require a sufficient volume of cases to maintain their skills.
That’s why the national planning forum has been asked to look again at the most appropriate network. However, I can absolutely guarantee that clinicians from all four proposed major trauma sites including Ninewells, have been involved in this work from the outset
Shona Robison. Cabinet Secretary for Health, Scottish Government.
Bring teachers from abroad
Sir, – It was brought home to me recently just how serious the state of numeracy is nowadays. I was paying a lunch bill in a restaurant by credit card. The bill was £77.50 and I told the girl to round it up to £85.
She could not work out in her head how much to put in the space for gratuities.
One of the people I was with told me that at his newsagent the day before, the assistant couldn’t add the prices of two papers together.
Standards of literacy in both spoken and written English are dreadful.
Matters can only get worse as the pupils, poorly taught, become teachers themselves.
The downward spiral is not going to be a simple matter to reverse.
I would seriously suggest that schools recruit English teachers from countries where they have been taught English as a second language.
These people will have been taught proper grammar and syntax, how to parse a sentence and recognise which noun governs which verb all of which will be a total mystery to today’s students in Scotland.
Even writers and journalists start sentences with and, and but which is grammatically incorrect as these words are conjunctions and should never be used to start a sentence.
Donald Lewis. Pine Cottage, Beech Hill, Gifford.
Changing landscape
Sir – I feel I mustcorrect George Sangster (February 6) when he states that beavers are a non-native species.
Beavers were present in Scotland from the Oligocene epoch (circa 38 million years ago) until they were hunted to extinction by man in the 16th century.
The Tayside Beaver Study Group can give advice as to how to limit any damage they might cause. More visible non-native species in the glens are pheasants and red leg partridges.
I can also state that recently bulldozed tracks now exist in the area of Glen Esk with the only discernible reason being that they make access to grouse shooting areas easier, unlike the previous tracks Mr Sangster refers to, which were main economic thoroughfares for travel and taking livestock to market.
Long-term ecological degradation will take time to judge, though hydrology issues, as the tracks rarely follow the contours of the land, seem probable.
Add to that miles of new fences to restrict the movement of animals and one can see the landscape changing without any recourse to planning regulations or the convenience of the general public.
I might also add that raptors have been protected by law since 1954, but this has not stopped some gamekeepers from continuing to persecute them as recourse to court records would illustrate.
Mr Sangster claims that this type of activity is now fading out as a new generation of gamekeepers emerge but he ignores the facts that a gamekeeper in his 40s was sent to prison for crimes against raptors last year while a 25-year-old was fined £2,000 for illegally killing a raptor last September.
George Murdo. 4 AuchcairnieCottages, Laurencekirk.
Council still spends freely
Sir, – Your correspondent David Thomson (February 5) states, as a “fact”, that John Swinney’s council tax freeze has resulted in the loss of “many thousands of essential jobs”.
Perhaps Mr Thomson can supply more “facts” and indicate where these losses have occurred?
Or is this the usual spiel of “facts” we are treated to before an election in the hope that some of the mud might stick?
If the Scottish Government’s intention in imposing this freeze was to curb the excesses of our free-spending council then I fear it will have to think again.
Some of the real facts are that when our Fife Council was hell bent on closing 16 public libraries it had already earmarked the equivalent of many years’ running costs to dress up one of our high streets again with new street furniture.
As we bounce over the numerous potholes, we can reflect on the sizeable grants our cash-strapped council has proposed handing out to private companies instead of spending on the much-needed repair of our roads.
As for the services to the disadvantaged and needy having suffered according to Mr Thomson, perhaps he is unaware that when our caring councillors big-heartedly awarded £150,000 to a private theatre company, they also decided to slap a sizeable fee on disabled blue badges.
Fred Barbour. Willowbrae, Millgate, Cupar.
How much cash will be saved?
Sir, – When I read about the possibility of closing the North Inch Golf Course in Perth, I was reminded of the large amount of money being spent by Perth and Kinross Council to move the council chamber downstairs in its High Street headquarters.
I am unimpressed by the council’s priorities and would be interested to know the cost of the move and how much money it will save.
Garry Barnett. The Garden House. Campsie Hill, Guildtown.