Sir, I have previously written to The Courier praising Dundee Airport (and rightly so).
However, now that our city is about to establish a new V & A museum along with all the other attractions Dundee and district already has I feel we need to do more to attract paying visitors to the city.
We need to make our city a lot easier, cheaper and more convenient to travel to.
One possible way to achieve this would be to convert Camperdown Park into a new airport.
I believe the park and the surrounding fields could make a much bigger runway than Dundee Airport’s present site, making it suitable for larger aircraft and it needn’t cost the taxpayer a penny.
Dundee City Council could meet the start-up costs of a new airport by selling Camperdown Park to developers and airlines.
I would point out that there are already numerous hotels established near to Camperdown, (such as The Landmark, which is to be renamed by Hilton very soon; the Travelodge; Park House Hotel and two Premier Inns).
Also, we already have Camperdown Leisure and Retail Park which has several restaurants, a hotel, cinema and ice arena. Dundee’s city centre is only about three miles from Camperdown, which is already served by several bus routes and is very close to the main roads into and out of Dundee.
In other words, most of the infrastructure that would be required is already in place.
Kenneth Brannan. 42 Greenlee Drive, Dundee.
Doesn’t take account of ‘nuclear free’
Sir, I have read the speech delivered by Fiona Hyslop on behalf of the SNP to the Independence Hall in Philadelphia where she states that Scotland would seek to be a “full and equal partner” in organisations such as the UN, EU and NATO.
We are a full and equal partner in these organisations through our historic union of the crowns.
I would also like to take this opportunity to remind all the SNP followers, members and “politicians” that the membership of NATO depends on a like-minded agreement of all members to provide a defence system for all countries involved and does not account for members of a “nuclear free” country relying on the others to defend them.
Willie Robertson. Grianan, Lynton, Stanley, Perthshire.
Save on those yellow lines
Sir, Perth & Kinross Council are in the process of cutting back on expenditure. May I suggest one area where cost savings are obvious?
The cost of gallons of yellow paint and the cost of applying it in relation to parking restrictions can be avoided.
Few people pay any regard to the implied parking restrictions associated with these yellow lines and there is little or no enforcement of the consequences of ignoring the restrictions.
G M Lindsay. Whinfield Gardens, Kinross.
Silent over gas find
Sir, Mr Phillip Roberts (July 4) blames the problems caused by wind turbines on present poor planning and Mrs Thatcher’s policies re the electricity supply industry and even suggests that only engineers should complain.
May I remind him that electricity bill and tax payers and lovers of the land have interests under threat from today’s windmill blight, which has been and is still promoted and uncritically supported by politicians and their friends in the renewables industry?
We all have a duty to protest, especially now that perhaps centuries’ worth of natural gas has been found here, which, properly managed, could go a long way towards solving energy problems which have resulted from politicians’ inactivity, over several decades, in maintaining essential power supplies.
So far, those in political charge in Scotland have been fairly silent about that.
(Dr) Charles Wardrop. Viewlands Road West, Perth.
This was a lost opportunity
Sir, I see my old friend Graham Lang having a go at Newburgh Community Trust over its bid to put up wind turbines. In order to bolster his anti-turbine views, he uses some emotive language that requires correction.
NCT did not “squander money on an overblown project on a sensitive site”. As he well knows, any application for wind turbines requires a multitude of hurdles to be crossed. This requires finance and NCT were successful in obtaining support after a rigorous application process. The scale of the project was based on the amount of electricity used in the area covered by NCT.
There was only one major objection from SNH to the project which did have a big majority of support among local residents.
I still believe the failure to get planning for the project was a lost opportunity for local people to protect themselves against ever increasing power costs.
Andrew Arbuckle. Chairman. Newburgh Community Trust.
Made us a laughing stock
Sir, Like many others across the UK on Sunday morning I was delighted that the legal and human rights farce that has dragged on for a ridiculous length of time has now come to an end and Abu Qatada has finally been sent home.
Not wishing to put a damper on the celebrations, the whole process has cost a fortune for this country (£1.7m), lawyers have lined their pockets and it has made us a laughing stock across the world because of our constant bowing to the human rights court in Europe.
If a system was devised relatively quickly to ensure a treaty was signed between Jordan and the UK it really begs the question why was it not done a lot earlier than this?
Will lessons be learned from this to make sure this sort of thing never happens again? I doubt it, if we are still a member of the EU.
Theresa May originally said Qatada would be on a plane shortly, that was 446 days ago. I hope the British people remember this disgrace at the polls.
Gordon Kennedy. 117 Simpson Square, Perth.
Community funds are considered
Sir, Joss Blamire, of Scottish Renewables and your editorial (July 2), stated that community funds given by windfarm developers have no bearing on the planning process and are not taken into consideration during it.
While it is true that community benefit is not taken into account in the formal planning consent process, the situation when considering consent for large wind developments is different.
These developments are considered under a process, governed by Section 36 of the Electricity Act (which then gives “deemed planning consent”). This process does allow for community benefit to be considered.
The John Muir Trust was recently an objector at the Allt Duine windfarm public inquiry where the developer introduced such a benefit as relevant evidence for consideration.
The inquiry reporter made it clear she would consider this evidence, despite the trust objecting to its late submission.
Helen McDade. Head of Policy. John Muir Trust, Tower House, Station Road, Pitlochry.
A mystery no more
Sir, The “mystery moth” shown in the brilliant picture on Monday’s letters page in The Courier is a poplar hawk moth Laothoe populi.
It is found from western Europe (including all the UK) across to Iran and is quite common, but not often seen by day.
The strange looking wings are said to mimic dead poplar leaves for camouflage purposes. The moth’s larval food plant is poplar so if there are any poplars near the house in Newport where it was found, that’s where it came from.
The greyish colour means it’s probably a male and the reddish patches you can see in the picture are a means of warning off predators, a “threat display”.
Fergus Crystal. Aberfeldy.
Misguided, or cynical?
Sir, Bravo Andy, but the groundswell of support for a knighthood is misguided at best, cynical at worst. The British Establishment would love to “nobble” him before the referendum, but he is too young for such nonsense.
The British honours system is discredited by time-servers, incompetents, crooks and odious creeps (Savile etc), who have devalued it for the deserving.
Give Murray a few years to maximise his potential then, by all means, heap honours, even titles, upon him.
Perhaps, if Scotland is independent by then, the one he might value most would be the “Order of Scotland” or indeed the “Order of St Andrew”.
David Roche. 1 Alder Grove, Scone.
No need for the “the”
Sir, Recent articles and letters about a certain railway engine have piqued my interest.
I am from God’s Wonderful Railway country so not really a local expert, but I seem to recall from my youth that “Mallard” was always referred to as just that and not “the Mallard”.
A bit like referring to “the HMS Queen Elizabeth”!
Laurie Richards. 100 Crail Road, Cellardyke.