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READERS’ LETTERS: Community councils are vibrant and active

Anstruther Town Hall.
Anstruther Town Hall.

Sir, – In response to the recent Courier letter concerning what Anstruther Community Council does (“Let us know what you do”, September 22) I would say it has done quite a lot in the past three years.

The community council meets monthly in the Burgh Chambers in Anstruther Town Hall, all meetings are open to the public.

The agenda and minutes are freely available.

The community council held the only public meeting with a developer who wished to build 200 homes between Cellardyke and Kilrenny.

Recently, it also held a meeting with the Fife Healthcare partnership over their proposals on the replacement care home.

Both meetings were held in front of a packed audience and only took place because we have a vibrant community council.

The group is also the catalyst behind Anstruther and Cellardyke in bloom which has achieved a gold award for the town three years running.

When concerns were raised locally about drug-related objects being discarded in our park it was to the community council meeting that the police came to discuss this with concerned residents.

Currently all Fife community councils are going through the democratic election process.

In Anstruther there are currently 14 candidates for 13 places – this shows the strength of our community council in Cellardyke, Kilrenny and Anstruther.

Martin Dibley.

56 High Street,

Anstruther.

 

Meaning of “gay” hijacked

Sir, – I am in almost total agreement with your correspondent Jamie Buchan and his views on the Dundee Pride day which was held in the city last weekend (Letters, September 27).

He is correct in stating that the word “pride” has been hijacked.

However, he goes on to state that it is used by the “gay” community.

This has been used in error by them for years and is now accepted as an synonym for homosexual.

Its actual meaning is happy, merry or cheerful.

These are things I consider myself to be, but I would now hesitate at calling myself gay since its hijacking by the homosexual brigade.

Willie Robertson.

Lynton,

Stanley.

 

Designer dog trend a danger

Sir, – There is no doubt we are a nation of dog lovers.

However, society moves in terms of trends and the increasing flavour of the day is for the designer dog.

Now even that in itself would not be a problem, but this has led to highly over inflated prices for dogs which, in whatever ways they are parcelled up, are mongrels.

Were one to advertise a mongrel for sale at prices often exceeding £1,000 then I suspect there would be few takers, but put two pedigree dogs together then crown the result by a fancy name and bingo, the wallets are pulled out and money is no object.

Some might use the old cliché “a fool and his money are soon parted” but that would not be the real point.

Instead there are unscrupulous puppy farms and ever willing puppy farmers out there eager to exploit the desire for these dogs and the wealth generated, keeping a battery of breeding bitches and dogs in squalid, often disease ridden conditions and engaged in repetitive litters, wholly unconcerned for the welfare of the dogs.

Thus the unsuspecting punter enters into a purchase, spends further sums of money at the vets, often with heartbreaking consequences.

One other point to be considered; if the owner wishes to take a litter from a designer dog, what type does he go to, because it is then akin to opening a can of worms, not knowing what to expect in the second generation and thereafter?

If the results are not as expected, who then wants these puppies?

The inherent dangers lie in abandonment and the resultant increased pressures on our dog charity trusts.

May this trend end itself soon.

David Thomson.

24 Laurence Park,

Kinglassie.

 

Shameful loss of school records

Sir, – Lawside Academy played a unique role in the history of our city.

Founded by nuns in the late 19th Century it set out, step by step, to give Dundee’s impoverished Irish (largely Catholic) community access to the quality of schooling which other establishments in the city, notably the Morgan and Harris Academies, offered.

It took a long time, and only after the war did we see any real numbers from this community make it to university.

That story of how education helped poor immigrants is a central part of Dundee’s social and economic history.

That the school’s records have been destroyed, while in the hands of our public authorities, is shameful (“Dismay as records of former secondary school disappear”, Courier September 25).

It also reflects the carelessness with which the education department viewed its stewardship of the heritage which was entrusted to it.

That it happened is not only a disgrace, it also means that vital evidence for future historians has ended up in a skip.

As an-ex Lawsider from the 1960s, the saddest aspect of this saga is the fact that – when I first heard of the problems Elisabeth Kerr was encountering in trying to find these documents – my very first thought was that they had most likely been thrown out.

How right I was.

William Coupar.

30 Stephen Hill Road,

Sheffield.

 

Lower limits a good option

Sir, – I write in reference to a letter from a Mr Ken Greenaway of Cupar (Letters, September 26).

Mr Greenaway states that a car travelling at 20mph will mean “every journey will take 50% longer and emissions will be 50% higher”.

This is quite simply incorrect.

There is ample evidence that shows journey times are not significantly affected by lower speed limits.

Bristol’s 20mph progress report found that: “There are no differences (to journey times) in the peak periods and only approximately a 30 second difference in off-peak periods.”

As for the impact on air pollution, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recently recommended 20mph speed limits as an option to curb air pollution.

Reports from Transport for London and academic Dr Sarah Jones both state that 20mph speed limits will reduce air pollution and save lives. If Mr Greenaway or any other readers would like me to send these reports their way, please do get in touch.

Mark Ruskell MSP.

MG 17,

Scottish Parliament.

 

Trump treading well-worn path

Sir, – Besides ridicule, laughter and contempt, Trump’s fascistic diatribe at the UN achieved nothing.

Trump ranted on about the importance of sovereignty – then asked all countries in the world to gang up on Iran to infringe theirs.

US presidents routinely treat their own sovereignty as sacred whilst ignoring it for others.

US imperial interests always take priority.

Trump claimed the Iranian people were sick of their government looting the country and stealing the assets.

With only a small adjustment Trump could have been describing the US oligarchy.

In the eyes of its erstwhile allies Trump has turned the US from the guarantor of the post-war order, into a rogue state that spreads disruption.

This process did not begin with Trump and is due to the decline in US economic power.

Trump essentially tries to portray the US as a “victim” – a tactic straight from the playbook of European fascism in the 1930s.

Trump also denounced “socialism” in Venezuela.

Facing a protracted crisis, the one thing that unites Trump and the Democrats is fear of a genuine people’s movement from below.

Alan Hinnrichs.

2 Gillespie Terrace,

Dundee.

 

Corbyn and May not so far apart

Sir, – There’s little difference on Brexit between Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May.

He’d get huge respect and unite the country if he worked with the PM to hammer out a deal the EU couldn’t refuse.

Instead he is waffling on about a “people’s vote”.

Allan Sutherland.

1 Willow Row,

Stonehaven.