Today’s letters to The Courier.
Sir, – Reference the article, Vision could save City Hall, in Friday’s courier there are a few points I would like to make. None of these relate to the architectural merit, or otherwise of the building. My views about that are well recorded.
Also, it is necessary to say that what I am about to write is my own personal opinion on the shopping mall idea.
This concept has been floated many times in the past but with no consideration given to the potentially bad effects in relation to on-street shops.
There is a mall already, the St John’s Centre, which has a few vacant units at present. That of itself is not unusual as is the case in Perth High Street. Turnover in use of retail units is the norm in every town or city. However, given that is so, why do we need another mall?
In the case of the idea being discussed in your article, this is clearly a self-contained area and in my view would be extremely detrimental to on-street shops in the centre of Perth.
That, apart from my personal, but also educated, view of the building as not being worth keeping, is my major concern.
It seems to me to be very likely that if this scheme happened many people would, especially on a bad day, enter it and stay there until they went home, thus never even looking in an on-street shop window. How that can be regarded as advantageous for the regeneration of the Perth city centre I cannot fathom.
I would counsel the proponents of this idea to consult the on-street shop owners or operators in the vicinity of the City Hall building and listen to what they have to say.
I am certain they will not find them very supportive.
Cllr Alan Grant.Deputy Leader,Perth & Kinross Council.
Independence question has to be honest
Sir, – Scotland as a “new” independent nation outside the EU would mean it would be truly sovereign a great idea which England and Wales would soon wish to emulate. We should all leave the EU together now hence UKIP’s demand for a UK referendum on real independence.
The Scottish Referendum question needs to be honest and the SNP should ask for a mandate for that which they profess they want: Should Scotland leave the UK and negotiate to become a region of the EU?
That is the reality.
Mike Scott-Hayward.Chairman UKIP Scotland,Sawmill House,Kemback Bridge,Fife.
A little piece of Scotland went with me
Sir, – I’d like to add a little context to the comments drawn by Mr Bell’s letter “Ashamed to be Scottish?” (December 4). They were considered and sage words I confess to being a well-travelled expatriate Red Lichtie.
Wherever I have lived in the world over the last six decades, I have felt, as a Scot, that I’ve brought a little bit of Scotland with me and have always felt at home, wherever it was.
My own views, having met many expatriate Scots or descendants of Scots emigrants, is that this feeling is commonplace amongst us, but perhaps less so amongst others from elsewhere.
An amazing number of places, roads and streets around the world are of Scots origin Abbotsford in British Columbia, Brechin Street in Penrith NSW, Ben Macdhui in South Africa that I can only suppose that many were named to help people feel at home!
Mike Blair.7 Bryony Court,Holt,Norfolk.
Yet another in a long line of debacles
Sir, – Well done to your reporter Alan Wilson in highlighting the misinformation and false assurances given by various people in what is turning into another Dundee debacle.
The new pool project in Allan Street, which is costing the taxpayer millions, turns out to be in the same category as the V&A at Dundee project and The Dundee House project over-ambitious, expensive, mismanaged and confusing to the people who are paying for it.
Again we are expected to swallow the PR of the people responsible for overseeing the project.
My next worry is the new railway station which has already been sent back to the drawing board once, unfortunately, without the designers heeding the objections and advice offered by Dundee people.
Advice such as the fact that the station should, using common sense, be facing the waterfront and RSS Discovery instead of facing east on to a re-sited V&A, which has no provision for car parking (it looks like the V&A re-siting is coming whether we agree or not).
Arthur Gall.14D Pitalpin Court,Dundee.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL. Letters should be accompanied by an address and a daytime telephone number.