Sir, – Roy Noxburgh (Office figures show scale of problem) has highlighted an issue which has had me scratching my head for a long time.
Why do we keep building new business premises in Aberdeen when it’s so obvious that the demand doesn’t exist?
In particular, why are we now wasting public money to help fund the Energy Transition Zone being promoted by Ian Wood’s “Opportunity North East” company?
It seems there is plenty of space already available in Aberdeen for this torrent of net-zero technology companies it believes are desperate to establish themselves here.
Let’s scrap that daft idea, invest the money in something we haven’t got, like a hydrogen electrolyser manufacturer, and save St Fittick’s Park from being destroyed by an empty industrial estate.
Dick Winchester, Old Rayne, Aberdeenshire.
Time for electorate to take back control
Sir, – Under normal circumstances, I would wholeheartedly agree with Ian Gray that local elections ought to be fought on local issues.
However, the Conservative & Unionist Party consistently promotes national issues in their local election campaign material, including this election.
A disgraced Boris Johnson is being kept in place by Tory MPs in the face of an overwhelming tsunami of outrage from the public, which has lost all patience with his repeated lying and distractions.
He is being given further support and succour by Tory MSPs and councillors.
The forthcoming local elections therefore provide the earliest and most effective opportunity to send a clear message to Westminster by voting the Conservatives out of power.
It is time for the electorate to “take back control”.
Rob Merson, St Mary’s Drive, Ellon.
Special ‘thank you’ to the staff at ARI
Sir, – I had reason to attend Aberdeen Royal Infirmary recently, first for a CT scan and another at the Peter Brunt department on the same day and around the same time, and both departments were at the opposite ends of the hospital.
First of all, the lady at the reception desk was very helpful and all the nurses I met were exceptionally kind, but the top prize goes to the porters who really went out of their way to be kind to me and accompanied me to all my appointments in a wheelchair.
So, through your paper, I wish to send a special “thank you” to all the staff I came across on my recent visit.
We should all be proud of the ARI staff at such a difficult time.
Kitty Milne, Sluiemohr, Ballater.
£245m question needs answering
Sir, – I watched the interchange in Holyrood between the hapless Ivan McKee, minister for business, trade, tourism and enterprise, and various opposition MSPs as they tried to get to the bottom of the Ferguson scandal, especially in light of the damning Audit Scotland report and the “disappearance” of key documents from October 8 2015.
McKee trotted out the same “Wuv looked and we canny find it” answer to all questions and promise of a full review on completion of the project, whenever that is.
The usually forensic Daniel Johnston, MSP, questioned the legality of the SNP’s actions within the rules of a “Finance and Public Administration Act” which can’t be found by Google and that no one has heard of.
The best we can hope for is an investigation by the Public Audit Committee that might not get as fobbed off as the Salmond Committee did.
Since the squandered £245 million originated from Westminster, isn’t it time that we got the professional civil servants and MPs from there to take charge of finding where UK voters’ money has gone?
Allan Sutherland, Willow Row, Stonehaven.