Sir, – I am aware of motorists having trouble in the multi-storey car park at Kinnoull Street in Perth city centre and I think some of your readers might be interested in my experience when I parked there on July 15 for the first time since the changeover of operation, and found myself faced with the new machine.
With some difficulty I remembered myregistration number, paid for three hoursand left within thattime.
Then, 12 days later I received a photograph of my car arriving and leaving with a demand for £100 for unauthorised parking.
Very luckily, I still had the ticket I hadpurchased and sent it to Smart Parking asking why I had been penalised when I had clearly paid and left within the due time.
On August 15, I received a letter stating that because I had inadvertently put a nought instead of the letter o in my registration number, their computer had judged me as illegally using the car park.
The penalty has been cancelled but I have been put to much trouble and distress and was very lucky to have retained my ticket so as to be able to prove my innocence.
I hope that Perth and Kinross Council willtake action to protectvisitors to their cityfrom this sort of aggravation.
Anthony Garrett. 1 Royal Terrace, Falkland.
Act now to halt seal killing
Sir, – What a magnificent Courier picture of the day on Friday August 14. It showed a Scottish bottlenose dolphin airborne with a wildScottish Salmon firmly in its mouth.
This is a scene I have witnessed myself several time recently.
If, however, this was a grey, common or harbour seal, under current Scottish Government legislation it is perfectly legal for some Scottish salmon fishermen to put a bullet through them.
Given the perilous state of the wild salmon population the answer is surely to allow the culling of dolphins also?
This is possibly a step too far given dolphin watching is now part of a viable business between Dundee, the Moray Firth and beyond.
The Scottish Government must act now to stop all seal culling by the fishermen with the misguided idea that killing one species of marine mammal and not others is the solution to the problems of environmental conditions and man’s exploitation of the wild salmon stocks.
Ritchie Walker. Elliot Street, Arbroath.
Kezia can deliver results
Sir, – As an active member of Scottish Labour, I am fully behind Kezia Dugdale’s plans to rebuild the party inScotland (August 17).
Kezia is exactly the type of leader we need to reach out to new supporters and activists, and she is clear that she will do that in an effort to find fresh faces and talent for the party.
She wants people who also have experience of the real world: people who have held down real jobs, but want to do more to serve their country: people who are passionate about social justice but have experience as nurses, engineers,planners, teachers,parents or carers.
Kezia Dugdale and Alex Rowley also clearly want to change the tone of the political debate in Scotland. Simple anti-SNP and anti-Tory zealotry will not help Labour with the mountain it has to climb.
Within this context, Kezia has set out quite clearly how education in Scotland is failing the most vulnerable Scots.
Importantly, however, she has also offered constructive solutions and given a public commitment to work with the SNP government to help ensure every child in Scotland reaches their full potential.
This does not mean that Labour will not hold the SNP to account on policing cuts, NHS waiting times and falling literacy. However, it does show that delivering Labour values is at the core of Kezia Dugdale’s leadership.
Dr Scott Arthur. 27 Buckstone Gardens, Edinburgh.
Sad loss of a good politician
Sir, – Over the weekend the SNP de-selected two sitting MSPs as candidates for the 2016 Holyrood elections.
One of them was my North Angus MSP, Nigel Don.
I have met Mr Don on many occasions and he has always been courteous, knowledgeableand has gone out of his way to be helpful,especially to a local Kenyan family.
Perhaps he has shown too many good traits to enable him to represent the people who voted for him.
I cannot imagine he was proud of or impressed by cybernat antics and I doubt if he has recovered from the humiliation of supporting the campaign to keep the Stonehaven court open, only to be forced to vote for closure by his masters in the parliament.
I can only assume his replacement, Brechin Councillor Mairi Evans, ticks more of theboxes on obsession with independence, unthinking devotion to the party and lack of depth when it comes to real knowledge and experience of the issues.
Allan Sutherland. 1 Willow Row, Stonehaven.
Scotland’s schools in crisis
Sir, – The SNP promised the Scottish people they would cut class sizes for primaries one to three pupils.
That promise was broken in 2009 and class sizes across Scotland have risen.
Now we have a critical shortage of teachers in our schools.
Education is devolved to the SNP at Holyrood so they cannot blame evil London for this mess that could blight the future of Scotland’s young people.
Bob Ferguson. North Muirton, Perth.