Madam, – I have fished the River Eden in Fife for 60 years.
At first sight, the river water flowing now appears to be less polluted than in the 1960s when I started my lifelong affair with fly fishing.
Then the sugar beet factory was in operation and water flows appeared significantly higher.
Autumn and spring weather meant hard frosts, snow and big cold snow bree floods at the thaw.
They were just the thing to clean out the river so that salmon and sea trout could enter the river system and do what they do naturally.
Now we are told that the river water purity meets all the required standards of the water Framework Directive, but due to a change in climate the rainfall in the Eden catchment is predicted to become much drier.
There is a triple whammy here as drier summers mean insufficient rainfall for salmon to enter the river system.
Secondly it means greater demand for irrigation of crops and, thirdly, there is less water flow in the river to cope with pollution from fertilisers and herbicides, and the regular pollution events which plague the river. Prior to the 1970s irrigation was almost unknown.
More recently, hydroponic production of strawberries in polytunnels means crops no longer rely on natural rainfall, but on water pumped from the river.
The Eden is one of seven catchments in the UK identified as being under severe pressure.
Salmon need cold flood water to run the river to spawn but have not done so in any numbers for the last three years.
More recently the Scottish Government as part of a Scotland-wide initiative have implemented conservation measures for salmon and brown trout which can no longer be stocked by angling clubs as they have been in the past.
These pressures are having a detrimental effect on the biodiversity of the river, membership of community angling clubs and for those who regularly use the river for walking and exercise.
Although the river is still a beautiful place and has the potential to recover, it badly needs politicians and Scottish Government departments to be proactive and work together with community and stakeholders to improve resilience as without intervention the paradise that was once the River Eden may be lost forever.
David Farmer.
49 Sandylands Road,
Cupar.
Improving public transport
Madam, – The steady decline in bus routes and passenger numbers in Scotland reported this week is a big worry for Levenmouth which completely depends on buses.
Scottish Government data shows that while the number of air, rail, ferry and car travellers all increased, bus patronage declined steeply.
Despite buses accounting for three-quarters of all public transport journeys, the sector has suffered as a result of soaring fare prices and increased congestion on our roads network.
There is a desperate need to improve public transport provision, but especially for Levenmouth which has a larger proportion of households without access to a car.
Above all, this means getting trains back to Leven as soon as possible and improving local bus connections to give the people of this area a fair opportunity.
Otherwise, we will suffer increasing isolation.
James Robertson.
Casan,
Leven.
Five years for knife carrying
Madam, – Seeing the knife crime escalation and the law not being strong enough to combat it is very disturbing.
Anyone found with a knife in their possession without due reason should be put behind bars for an automatic five years, with no remission. The law requires hardening up to meet this crime.
Bill Sangster.
24 Main Street,
Strathkinness.
Pendulum has swung too far
Madam, – Questions are being asked about what can be done to stop knife crime.
It seems to me there is absolutely no incentive to make anyone worry about being caught committing knife crime, or any other crime for that matter.
Years ago people were sentenced to hard labour in prison.
Has the pendulum not swung too far in the direction of appeasing do-gooders?
Allan Bullions.
6 Glencairn Crescent,
Leven.
The poor worst hit by Brexit
Madam, – Some of your unionist correspondents must think the heads of the people of Scotland zip up the back!
Despite voting to stay, Scotland is being ripped out of the EU without any kind of consultation with our elected Government.
In 2014 the campaign for independence was based on a 600-page plan, while Brexit had a few words on the side of a bus and, two years later, not much more.
The UK Government’s own projections show Brexit will be a disaster for the country and, as always, it is the poor who will get the pain.
Les Mackay.
5 Carmichael Gardens,
Dundee.
EU to give ultimatum
Madam, – The best thing that could happen at this stage is for the EU to refuse an extension of Article 50 and say to Westminster: “Crash out without a deal or decide to remain – it’s time to choose.”
This absurd, humiliating, costly farce, driven by Brexiteer delusion and Government dishonesty, needs to stop.
The EU would do us a huge favour if it banged parliamentary heads together.
Rev Dr John Cameron.
10 Howard Place,
St Andrews.
Put facts at heart of energy debate
Madam, – Holyrood is currently debating the Climate Change Emissions Reductions Targets Scotland Bill.
Germany has spent more money on renewable energy than any other European country. Electricity generation from wind and solar between 2011 and 2017 rose from 70 to 147 terrawatt hours (TWh), yet over the same period it’s CO2 emissions rose from 761 to 764 million tonnes.
France has had the best energy system in the world. Its electricity generation from wind and solar between 2014 and 2016 rose from 23 to 30 TWh, yet its figure for greenhouse gas emissions intensity of energy consumption rose from 82.8 to 85.
I implore MSPs to base their votes on facts and physics, not fairy tales.
Geoff Moore.
Alness,
Highland.
Gall over social security call
Madam, – I read with astonishment a letter from Linda Holt (SNP failing on social security, Courier, March 4) about social security.
The Tories have specialised now for over a decade in butchering the welfare state, and making the poor, sick and disabled pay for the lavish tax cuts handed out to the super rich bankers who fund the Conservative Party.
One would have hoped that the Tories might have shown just a little humility.
Sadly the Tory approach to the NHS, poverty and our most vulnerable children and adults is not sane. It is wicked.
Karen Heath.
Cortachy,
Kirriemuir.
