Thursday’s correspondents discuss subjects including women and pensions, proposed housing at Clatto Park, and a light-hearted look at pedestrian obstacles.
All new houses should have solar panelsSir, The somewhat controversial proposal to build several hundred houses bordering Clatto Park will no doubt be passed.
This is a double-edged sword in many aspects. On the one hand it brings much needed employment for the building trade and others currently struggling to find work locally.
On the other hand is the pressure development will no doubt put on school places. There will also be more cars using this already busy infrastructure.
Local shops and amenities will benefit from the enlargement of the population, another plus side to be considered.
What I do find rather strange is, the local representatives of the current Scottish Government failing to get their message across about renewable energy.
Surely each new house built in Scotland should have solar panels fitted as part of the planning remit.
Germany is the current leader in this field and, having made the decision to rid the country of nuclear power plants, is embracing solar energy.
The country’s climate is similar to our own, proving it doesn’t have to be a Mediterranean location for solar power to be successful. Wind power is only one way of ensuring we can have our energy requirements met in the future.
Bill Duthie,25 St Fillans Road,Dundee.Asking too much of womenSir, I’d like to ask your readers to help with our campaign to highlight the unfairness of proposals contained in the UK Government’s Pensions Bill.
We support the move to bring women’s state pension age in line with men’s at 65. But we are objecting to the speed of the increase: for women to 66 by 2020, six years earlier than originally planned.
As a result, around 30,000 women will, at very short notice, have to wait an extra 18 months or longer before claiming their state pension.
I feel this is unfair and will hurt hard-working women, many of whom have worked for 40 years or more.
Many of us have worked in relatively low-paid jobs or part-time because of care responsibilities and these changes will mean real hardship especially to those with poor health.
We are asking MPs to ensure the Pensions Bill is amended so that any increase to the state pension age beyond 65 does not start until at least 2020.
Readers can take action by asking MPs to stick to the original timetable. To find out more please visit www.ageuk.org.uk/spa.
Marilyn Rattray. 1 Hillside Drive, Dundee.Obstacles faced by pedestriansSir, It is regrettable that the pedestrians of Perth and Forfar, and probably many other towns, do not have the protection afforded by Dundee City Council against serious harm arising from inadvertently walking into shopkeepers’ bill boards.
However, the job of eliminating all hazards for Dundee’s pedestrians is only partially complete. It is about time other obstacles to pedestrians, such as litter bins, bollards, bus shelters and pavement cafes, to mention a few, and not forgetting Desperate Dan and the Dragon, were also removed. If not, why not? Not until then will Dundee’s pedestrians have confidence to walk the streets in safety.
(Dr) Bernard W. Senior.18 Hillside Terrace,Dundee.An interest in the resultSir, In response to your story Delay in Biomass Plans (June 20), how bizarre that Forth Energy, the applicant for an incinerator, is allowed to implement its own programme of air monitoring in the affected area. Poor air quality is the main stumbling block in their ludicrous proposal.
Surely this equates to setting your own exam, marking it yourself and coming out with flying colours.
Ian Milne.Craigiebarn Road,Dundee.Bring back an old ministrySir, Our government has involved our country in the participation of three wars in the past decade. Is it not time we call our so-called Ministry of Defence the War Office, as it used to be called before the Second World War?
G. K. Richardson.4 Freddie Tait Street,St Andrews.Diagnosis wanted for treesSir, Is autumn arriving extra early, or are the trees suffering some form of pollution damage?
Trees across Perthshire and Fife are going brown where they should be lush green.
David McMillan.5 Milton Farm Cottages,Balmullo.Good slot for referendumSir, A sure way to turn most voters off the idea of home rule for Scotland is to continue with the current confusion over an independence referendum.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, MP for North Somerset, wants to create more mayhem with an amendment to the Scotland Bill currently before the Westminster Parliament (June 20). He wants it to take place within four months of the Bill becoming law. But on what terms is Scotland to become an independent state?
Just think of the main points: the share of the national debt Scotland would take on, the future of military bases, the system of taxation, pensions for civil servants and those in the forces, the way the new state is represented abroad.
All this is something civil servants in Edinburgh and London could be working on now.
In 2013 there are no scheduled Scottish, Westminster or European elections to distract the electorate. It would be the ideal time to hold a poll.
Voters would not just have the chance to decide about Scotland’s way forward. They would know the costs and advantages of what they were voting for.
Bob Taylor.24 Shiel Court,Glenrothes.
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.