Sir, – So, the Bon Accord Centre has gone into administration. I for one will not shed a tear if no one takes it on.
This centre was solely responsible for the decline of Aberdeen city centre, primarily George Street.
George Street was full of many, many family shops. The decline started with the build. No go areas for passing/access.
They (The Bon Accord Centre) lured Boots away from Union Street and convinced the public that they were the “bees-knees” – “Come to our centre solely.”
Bon Accord, you got what goes around comes around. ie Union Square is now the must go to, or so they try to convince shoppers.
So much for the revamp of Aberdeen city centre, as spouted by Aberdeen Inspired/Aberdeen City Council.
My plea (which will go ignored) is to leave Hadden Street (where the knocked down New Market was) and The Green area wide open.
This will/could give small business people a chance to have pop-up containers as shop/sandwiches/craft beer etc, with theme weeks and weekends monthly – aka the old Castlegate Market…
All the new-fangled ideas (blinkered) have only solid builds as solutions as saviours.
Clearly, this has not worked up until now.
It’s time to think outside the box.
Michael North. Lang stracht, summerhill.
Unionist parties to blame for strike as the rubbish piled up
Sir, – The appalling state of Edinburgh’s streets after the binmen and women had been on strike for less than a week is a testament to the excellent work they normally do. It took a strike for everyone to notice.
Those who try to blame the Scottish Government should note that the block grant for this year was fixed by the Treasury in London long before the UK cost of living crisis and that under devolution the Scottish Government is legally obliged to balance its books each year with very limited borrowing powers. Labour also tabled an amendment – backed by the Tories – which would have delayed the offer being put on the table, thankfully it didn’t pass.
The supposed party of the working class are officially in cahoots with the architects of austerity in Scotland.
Edinburgh City Council administration, formed by Labour, Tory and Lib Dem coalition, is clearly responsible for the rubbish on Edinburgh’s streets due to their lack of contingency planning and unacceptable 3.5% offer made to refuse workers.
There is blatant politicisation of workers by unionists, trying to turn working people against each other and blaming the Scottish Government for failing to provide money that Westminster controls.
MSPs know that the Scottish Government has to run a balanced budget. It’s not good enough to ask the Scottish Government for more money, they must tell the public the areas where they propose that budget cuts are made. Opposition parties must support the government when announcing these changes to the budget that was passed before energy price increases. Unionist MSPs want position but not responsibility.
Scottish Liberal leader Alex Cole-Hamilton joined Labour and Tory to make a stunt out of the issue, posing in front of rubbish in the authority where his councillors voted with Tories and voted to install a Labour administration.
The heckling crowd watching was not fooled by placards blaming the SNP, and two Tory MSPs made a quick exit after the photocall. How could Labour, whose two leadership contenders vowed to “ban militant trade unions”, pretend to support the working class during a strike? Just how daft do you need to be to pose in front of rubbish caused by your own parties and say it isn’t your fault?
The Labour leader of Edinburgh Council blames the SNP Scottish Government for years of austerity leading to massive cuts to council budgets. His party is happy to go into partnership with the two parties responsible for years of austerity which effectively slashed billions from our block grant.
Tory policies have chipped away at the rights of the most vulnerable. The current Tory chancellor indicated that a salary in the region of £45,000 borders on the working poor scale.
There will be a tsunami of debt. The UK Government is nowhere to be seen while this chaos reigns and the Scottish Government has a fixed budget. There is a national emergency of pandemic proportions.
We must have independence with parties based and registered in Scotland with Scotland’s interests at heart.
Ann Bowes, Wallacebrae Gardens, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen.
Money wasted on net-zero spending
Sir, – Before public money is invested in means intended to reduce man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) release, evaluatory calculations are essential as to their postulated impact on the world’s future climate.
It is an invariable practice in business firms’ projected spending that detailed examinations are made of the likely benefits and drawbacks.
The question that politicos should be asking and answering before the go-ahead must be “Is this proposal really worth the taxpayers’ money”?
I recognise that such decisions could not be made based on public referenda but our very often thoughtless politicos would be forced to think before splashing out our money.
Spending on attempts to offset dangerous man-made climate changes are evidently not preceded by comprehensive estimates of their costs and of the benefits sought.
For example, consideration of the likely benefits and drawbacks of the UK’s huge wind turbine investments, still continuing, were omitted by our politicos despite negative warnings from their expert adviser, Sir David MacKay, professor of engineering at Cambridge University.
His advice was ignored to delay the whole project pending vast improvements in electricity storage. These improvements are still to be realised.
No pilot studies of wind turbines’ practicability and usefulness were done before their installation started.
Such deficiencies have been the careless rule in many countries.
Electrically-powered cars are not at all green when account is taken of the polluting impacts of their batteries and manufacturing. They are now being widely and very expensively and wastefully adopted, clearly without full consideration of their pros and cons.
Likewise, the grotesquely costly present switch to electric buses is a glaring example of inadequate deliberations before the go-ahead was given.
Electrically-powered buses are inevitably very poor value for taxpayers’ money.
That must have been ignored.
Evaluation of the predicted benefit to the world’s climate must have been omitted, since it is obviously negligible.
Reforms and publication of the basis and justification of public spending, at least on fossil fuel substitution, are essential or gross wastes of our taxes will continue ad infinitum.
Charles Wardrop, Viewlands Road West, Perth.
Stop whinging and put on thinking cap
Sir, – I have never heard so much whinging and scaremongering on the TV.
In contrast, it would be refreshing to hear more about people who have been challenging the increase in the cost of living, people who don’t waste their time sitting back complaining and waiting for the next hand-out. Instead, they put their minds to innovative and creative things and ways to face this crisis head-on.
So little airspace is given to this. All we hear is doom and gloom and for many who are seldom mixing with people, it can become a real frightening anxiety which quickly becomes an obsession.
All over the world, we hear of people facing flooding, fires, wars within their own countries and all the time in Britain we whinge and wait for someone else to help.
If we turned our minds to think outside the box and puzzle as to how we could help ourselves that would be very refreshing indeed and reflect what a great people we once were!
When I see what other people across the globe face, it makes me ashamed that we don’t put up some sort of fight to see what we could do. We wait and moan.
Sybil Wilkie, Mansefield Place, Banchory.
Lightbulb moment for independence
Sir, – It’s strange, since Scotland produces more than enough renewable energy to power all of the country and more, that we pay more than south of the border.
This is because the Minister for Energy at Westminster, Greg Hands, capped prices very high to accommodate the very expensive electricity produced by gas, mostly used in England whereas renewables cost next to nothing to produce after installation – another good reason to be independent.
Herbert Petrie, Parkhill Sawmill, Dyce, Aberdeen.
Conversation