Sir, – You hardly open a newspaper or turn on the radio or TV to hear everyone talking about the cost-of-living crisis, rising energy bills and the increasing cost of food, mortgages etc, but it seems that the crisis doesn’t affect everyone the same.
Over the last three weekends, I have read reviews on three recommended family saloon cars, one starting at £40,000, another at £42,000 and a third at £47,000!
Each one was claimed by the writer to be the ideal family car.
On a lighter note but just as relevant, while watching the football on television the commentator said that one of the teams was playing in their fourth strip of the season and we are only in November.
Everyone who has children who support a particular football club knows that their child will be wanting this new strip as soon as it is out.
Where do football clubs think families get this kind of money in the present financial climate?
Hugh Millar. Castlegreen Road, Thurso.
Public safety paramount during Dounreay decommissioning
Sir, – I refer to recent press reports referring to new high numbers of “harmful” radioactive particles found on the Dounreay shoreline and Sandside beach which suggested they were related to leaks between 1958 and 1984, with 73% of the particles described as “significant”, and 15 particles found between February and March 2022.
Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL), responsible for decommissioning the site, said it was closely monitoring the situation and Sepa (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) stated “we are content that the monitoring and retrieval programme in place continues to provide appropriate protection for the public”.
DSRL stated “the foreshore is not used by the general public” – this is not a reassurance as nuclear radiation has no boundaries.
Highlands Against Nuclear Transport (Hant) is represented on the Dounreay Stakeholder Group (DSG) and has regularly asked for information about the monitoring being carried out and the results – and has been told that information will be made available when the monitoring report is provided by an independent body.
Neither the DSG meeting on March 22 nor the Site Restoration Sub Group meeting on October 19 were informed of these findings of concern.
Given that this information has only been made available through press reports to date, Hant would want the following to be implemented:
i) Regular up-to-date reports provided to the DSG and by press releases to the local press on the monitoring results, so that the DSG can provide this information to organisations represented by members and the general public will be informed by the local press. Assuming that the results of the monitoring can demonstrate that there is no danger to the public this will provide reassurance to everyone living in the area around Dounreay;
ii) That the Dounreay “clean up” reports provided by DSRL to the Particles Retrieval Advisory Group Dounreay (Prag) be provided to the DSG and local press – an online search resulted in the latest information from the Prag online being from 2016 and this is totally unacceptable;
iii) That a presentation be made to the DSG by the outside body carrying out the monitoring to describe its methodology and how regularly it is carried out – to provide local reassurance.
Hant looks forward to the immediate implementation of these proposals and will be monitoring this issue closely over the next months.
Tor Justad. Highlands Against Nuclear Transport, Ord Terrace, Strathpeffer.
Drivers seeing red over Greens’ policy
Sir, – Maggie Chapman’s call for speed cameras on the A96 (November 4) shows how utterly out of touch and badly informed the Green Party is regarding the road transport that they seek so persistently to strangle. How often does Ms Chapman imagine that it’s actually possible to exceed 60mph on as crowded and under-resourced a road as the A96, for goodness sake?
The problem with the A96 is the lack of the dualling that this tiny minority party are clearly and actively striving to prevent by exercising their stranglehold over the SNP administration.
Does Ms Chapman not realise that the Greens’ rearguard action against dualling both the A9 and the A96 is costing lives on both these major arteries?
Or are they more interested in the kind of knee-jerk, Citizen Smith politics that has become their clear trademark?
Charles Bannerman. Culduthel Mains Court, Inverness.
All roads lead to Highland capital
Sir, – As a regular traveller on the A96, I fully concur with Duncan Watson’s sentiments in his letter of November 10.
My only comments are that he was lucky to do the journey in two-and-a-half hours – it has frequently taken me three and even four hours when stuck behind a convoy of wind turbines.
Depending on my destination I often go via the A9, Carrbridge, Grantown, Tomintoul, The Lecht and Donside, which is quicker and equedistant. However, he refers to going “up” to Inverness – from Bridge of Don he would be going slightly up though more across.
It makes me smile when friends and family from Aberdeenshire say they are going up to Inverness as though they are going on an Arctic expedition when chances are they are actually going south.
For example, according to latitude lines Turriff is eight miles north of Inverness.
Dennis Dunbar. Obsdale Park, Alness.
Conservatives outstay welcome
Sir, – On November 17 the chancellor is going to announce drastic cuts in government spending to get the country back on track.
The people of this country must wake up because it is not our fault we are in this mess – it was the previous prime minister with her insane proposed cuts who caused the problem, the markets to panic and the Bank of England’s bail-out to stop the rot.
Now the Tory government is asking the people to help them again.
We are being punished once again by a government which has been there too long and has completely lost direction on how to govern.
Don McKay. Provost Hogg Court, Torry.
Cut the hot air and invest in fracking
Sir, – Jeff Rogers’ championing of wind turbines is grotesquely misguided (November 4).
He rejects investing in and developing fracking, which aims to exploit our natural resources.
Wind turbines are killers of the countryside, avian widlife, they drain the nation’s finances, are almost all foreign and impair the health of people living within hearing distance.
All that for pretty miserable returns.
I declare that, except as a taxpayer, I have no relevant financial interests. It is feared that anti-fracking moves are often funded by Russian oil interests.
Jeff Rogers does no justice to fracking’s potential for benefits.
Fracking takes up very little land space and it now saves the US economy money through much-reduced foreign imports.
Reports of drawbacks are largely limited to very minor, dubious pollution of water supplies and minimal ground tremors – no more than those from the impacts from railway trains and heavy lorries.
Very strict guidelines for fracking operations are essential, although its problems are very much less worrying than bad weather, which we cannot control.
From the litigation-happy US, we do not hear of the many lawsuits for damages if fracking’s problems there were really worrisome.
Without the endeavours and investments of our forebears, we would be poor indeed.
Despite the fears of nay-sayers, let’s trust that we will be able soon to explore and further pilot-study fracking’s vital potential for us and the nation.
Charles Wardrop. Viewlands Road West, Perth.
Dual-fuelled ships steaming ahead
Sir, – Approximately 18 months ago a company which has a significant presence in north-east Scotland and elsewhere decided to order the new build of two dual-fuelled ships, not ferries, but of a similar tonnage to the two vessels currently stuck at Ferguson Marine.
Detailed specifications were drawn up and tenders called from a number of shipyards.
The successful builder was selected and final negotiations were completed for fixed prices for both ships.
The first will be delivered in the next couple of weeks, the second just after the turn of the year, with no cost or price deviations. Scottish Government, please note.
M J Salter. Glassel, Banchory.
Saver not laughing all the way to bank
Sir, – You learn something new every day, that’s for sure. I have just discovered that the increase in interest rates is only applicable to money that banks hand out and has no bearing whatsoever in money you may have deposited with them. In fact, it means the opposite.
I will not name the bank in question, although they constantly tell us that they are by our side – there is only one side I can think of that fits the letter I received from them.
A savings account on reaching an anniversary in January will automatically be transferred to a Liquid Gold account. Yup that’s what they have the gall to call it, and the paltry interest rate I received before will be cut in half. I have the option to close the account if I choose to decline their very generous offer. I just need to find a branch that is open.
I get it now why they use a comedian to advertise their services – they are laughing all the way to the bank and the people who deposit their money with them, well, we are the stooges.
Stewart Archibald. Dee Street, Ballater.
Radical suggestions to boost town centre
Sir, – Good to hear that there is hopefully upgrading and help from corporate establishments regarding improving Union Street.
I would like to put forward a suggestion that Union Street be pedestrianised, we should have free buses (hop on, hop off) and have small cafes and small individual shops on the pavements to make it more encouraging for people to visit and spend.
I know this will cost money but there will be more revenue coming into the council’s coffers.
I know this is quite radical but at the moment we need to see Union Street come back to life.
It’s just a suggestion anyway.
I hope this new corporate involvement will help bring Union Street back to life again.
Marion Young. Queens Road, Aberdeen.
First Bus numbers don’t add up
Sir, – I wonder if your readers are as perplexed as I am by First Bus Aberdeen painting buses with route numbers, yet constantly putting these vehicles on different routes?
If you see a red or blue-fronted vehicle approaching, it probably won’t be the 1/2 or 17/18 you expect. It could be any route.
Apart from confusing residents, it must be puzzling to visitors.
What a waste of money, too. Far better to spend the money sprucing up the seating in the older vehicles, some of which is very shabby indeed.
Ian Black, Polmuir Road, Aberdeen.
Not one of the ‘chosen’, sadly
Sir, – Out of 4,800 invitation letters sent across Scotland’s eight parliamentary regions, 24 “randomly” selected Scots will help advise MSPs on how Holyrood can engage under-represented communities (EE, August 9).
Why then do we have local and general elections to vote in hoity-toity councillors, MSPs and MPs to represent their communities?
I am still waiting for my letter – or am I not one of the chosen 4,800 true Scots born and bred?
Am I shocked? No!
T Shirron, Davidson Drive, Aberdeen.
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