Sir, – I read the article and looked at the photograph of the demolition squad lead by Angus councillors posing with tools to demolish two blocks of flats in Arbroath (February 5) with disgust verging on nausea.
These three councillors are proud that they are demolishing good housing stock, using the most spurious reasons imaginable: thegentrification of the site of a ruined abbey, itself demolished and the ruins used for centuries as a quarry to build many of the houses that surround the abbey.
One of these councillors actually used the fact that most tenants would prefer to live in low-level accommodation as a reason for demolition and actually suggested he is doing us all a big favour by demolishing the flats.
The reason multi-storey flats were built in the 1960s was a crying need for housing, the self-same reason that the housing waiting list increases every year.
When cleared, it is likely this site will not be used for social housing as hinted at but given over to a private developer. There is precedent for this. For a pittance, Angus Council sold ground at a Monifieth school to a “preferred buyer” instead of developing the house into flats and the grounds for unique and exemplary council housing.
Angus Council claim that they are priced out of sites for social housing but sold this site.
After the first of the three blocks in Arbroath were demolished when there are thousands of people on the housing waiting list, I wrote to my SNP MSP Graeme Dey to protest.
His agreement with the SNP administration that these houses should be demolished as they had been built on the wrong site and that they compromised the setting of the abbey was a stunner.
The desperate housing needs of ordinary people in Angus have been sidelined by the SNP for the aggrandisement of a rickle of stones in Arbroath where it may, or may not, have been where the Declaration of Arbroath was signed.
We are held hostage by a party which believes that the celebration of what happened, or didn’t happen in 1320, is of far greater importance than the well-being of the people who elected them.
Robert Alexander. 5 West Smieton Street, Carnoustie.
Let’s hear some other views
Sir, – I read your columnist Jim Crumley’s article attacking grouse moor management and the many letters in response from those with direct knowledge of the subject.
It appears Jim Crumley is free to trot out his views which are one sided and at best economical with the truth.
He has, over the years, written many times on similar terms, often coinciding with RSPB attacks.
Discrimination such as this is abusing the power of the pen.
Jim’s pipe dream is of Scotland cleared of all forms of land management and related rural employment, to reintroduce the beaver, wolf, lynx and so on and re-wild the country with native trees from coast to coast. Well dream on.
Grouse moor and land management should be given the opportunity to air their views in the same way as agriculture, equine and angling.
Until balanced views are printed in The Courier, your readership will learn nothing of the real world and will continue to follow the Pied Piper into Crumley land.
WR Hardy. Boysack, Arbroath.
Time for reflection
Sir, – Historians, people of all religious faiths and of none, should welcome Professor Mario Aguilar’s invitation to Pope Francis to attend an interfaith ceremony in St Andrews in September (February 8).
The choice of venue, asking the pontiff to sign a charter calling for all faiths to unite against radicalisation, is an interesting one.
In the 16th century, St Andrews saw some of the worst effects of religious strife between Protestants and Catholics. The murder of Cardinal Beaton and the execution in the most barbarous way of Protestant reformers Patrick Hamilton, George Wishart, Walter Mill and Henry Forrest, gives the town something of a reputation as the source of sectarian conflict in Scotland.
These actions are different in many respects to the jihadist attacks on innocent people in Paris last year. But they did help sow the seeds of intolerance between faith groups which has emerged in various forms in the last 500 years.
In St Andrews today, along the Scores, a monument to those reformers faces directly onto a pretty Roman Catholic church.
Beyond that are the remains of the castle where the cardinal was killed, a plaque on the place of Wishart’s execution, and beyond that, the ruins of the medieval cathedral.
There can be no more dramatic setting for the Pope to offer some reflections on how religious fervour, intolerance and violence can be linked. Professor Guilar will have done us all a favour if we get the chance to hear those reflections this autumn.
Bob Taylor. 24 Shiel Court, Glenrothes.
Health benefits of religion
Sir, – When considering Alistair McBay’scomment (February 2) that “secularists and atheists are not missing out by not believing in God” I am reminded of the huge volume of evidence showing the correlation between religious belief and human well-being that has been described as “the best kept secret in psychiatry and medicine.”
The American Journal of Public Health Studies gives an extensive list of the benefits religious belief. These include happiness and life satisfaction; purpose and meaning in life; less loneliness; lower rates of depression; lower rates of suicide; less psychosis; lower rates of alcohol and drug use; less delinquency and criminal activity; greater marital stability and satisfaction.”
Could there a correlation between today’s increasing secularisation of society and rising divorce rates, drug abuse and increased loneliness?
One would expect atheist writers such as Richard Dawkins to consult these reliable sources of evidence and use them appropriately in their publications instead of completely ignoring them.
Atheists accuse Christians of having a “blind faith”, that is, believing without evidence.
Could it be that it is their own faith that is blind when they refuse to consider any evidence that lies outside their completely blinkered secular worldview?
Jim Menzies. Railway Cottage, St Vigeans.
Dad’s Armyfilm is dreadful
Sir, – The film remake of Dad’s Army must surely rank as one of the worst film comedies of all time. It is embarrassing to see so many great actors floundering under such terrible writing and direction. It will be a long time before I forget one of my favourite actors, Bill Paterson, baring his backside at a German U-boat. Yes, it is really that bad.
Eric Travers. 38 Gellatly Road, Dunfermline.
Follow Dundee’s lead on wardens
Sir, – It strikes me that there appears to be a huge difference in how the provision of wardens in sheltered housing is being tackled by Angus Council and Dundee City Council.
While Angus Council seem to be edging towards a decision to dispense with sheltered accommodation wardens, which is causing considerable anxiety to both sheltered accommodation tenants and wardens, Dundee City Council seems to be providing an excellent warden-led service in its sheltered housing complexes, which was highly commended by national inspectors.
Perhaps Angus Council could consult with Dundee Councillor John Alexander to find out exactly how this was achieved, as doubtless Dundee is facing the same financial constraints imposed by Finance Secretary John Swinney.
I quote from a newspaper article on the subject: “The sheltered service is provided every day of the week by wardens who are on duty each day.
“This is a very good service which was characterised by knowledgeable and friendly staff, person-centred support and high customer satisfaction.”
So come on Angus Council, prove all the doubters wrong and follow Dundee’s example by striving to provide a first-class warden-led service in sheltered accommodation.
Bill Watson. 17 Seaview Avenue, Seaton Estate, Arbroath.
Honour will of Scottish voters
Sir, – In the event of Scotland’s electorate mvoting to leave the EU, can we be assured the nationalist government at Holyrood will accept and honour the decision as the will of the Scottish people?
RHL Mulheron. 28 Cowgate, Tayport.