Sir, Your correspondents on the subject of the A9 (Wednesday’s Courier) make very valid points.
The use of motorcycle patrols would certainly allow officers to deal with problems much faster than is currently the case, so why has Police Scotland not considered this option? The weather may be one answer but surely, if road safety is a policing priority, there must be a way of establishing suitable locations where motorcycle patrols can stop, rest and shelter between patrols.
Any search of the journey time between Perth and Inverness will show that it is quoted at about two and a half hours for the 113 miles. This is an average speed of 45mph so what use will the average speed cameras be for the majority of road users? With HGVs restricted to 40mph, there will inevitably be queues of vehicles building up behind them and it is a credit to many of these drivers that they regularly pull over into a layby to release faster vehicles.
It would be much more useful to erect signs telling drivers how long each section of dual carriageway is, in order that they might get a move on when they actually are able to safely overtake on such sections of the A9. This might encourage some drivers to actually use the gearbox in their cars to better effect than is frequently experienced at present.
Colin Young, Meadowland. Dunning.
A wide-ranging issue for airport
Sir, As the person responsible for the protection of Dundee Airport against obstacles before retirement, I would offer a bit of clarification as to why the wind turbine proposals for Southtown Farm near Balbeggie may well be a serious issue for the airport (Wednesday’s Courier).
Dundee Airport doesn’t have its own radar but it does have a three-dimensional Instrument Approach system based on precision radio beams. These allow aircraft to land safely in bad weather and are in use at all sizeable airports. At current prices, it’s a system worth close to £1 million.
However, Instrument Approach requires a long, straight run-in on the same alignment as the runway and, in the case of Dundee Airport, aircraft begin this long, straight run in the vicinity of Franklyden Farm, on top of the western Sidlaws, about 16 kilometres west of the airport and just 800 metres from the farm buildings of Southtown of Bandirran. Not many passengers know that the standard approach to Dundee Airport in bad weather starts near Perth.
So, everybody flying into Dundee Airport in bad weather is already passing very close to where it isproposed to put these very big wind turbines.
Whether it turns out to be a major issue for the airport will depend on the exact position and height of the proposed turbines, but it is certainly something that deserves very careful consideration.
Gordon Fleming. 2 St Nicholas Place, Dundee.
The trickles of giant windmills
Sir, In reporting the developer’s tussle with Dundee Airport’s operators about a possible threat of chaos for flights using the airport from the proposed Balbeggie giant windmills, you detail the developer’s statements about a reduction in the numbers to be installed, offers of “sweeteners” for the local community and necessary negotiations with other interested parties.
Nowhere in your report, nor in other such reports, is the critical point mentioned that wind turbines’ value for money for bill-payers for their intermittent trickles of electricity is roughly the equivalent of the compulsory purchase of a car powered by a 10bhp engine yielding, say, 10mpg!
Dr Charles Wardrop. 111 Viewlands Road West, Perth.
Power struggle over policing
Sir, The Scottish Government now want to take control of the British Transport Police in Scotland and put them under the control of Police Scotland. The BTP do a great job in policing the railway network and there is always a visible police presence at all main stations, a factor which acts as a great deterrent to criminals.
Policing of the rail network is very complex and following any tragedy (such as a suicide) every effort is made to get the network running without delay. I think this idea is all about power.
John McDonald. 14 Rosebery Court, Kirkcaldy.
A missing link in town’s image
Sir, The last views of Carnoustie when visitors leave the golf course and drive up Links Avenue is of filthy and often smelly dustbins, broken bridge walls and overgrown embankments.
Surely the council could tidy this street up? I see no reason why the respective golf clubs cannot keep their dustbins within their own premises and the bridge cannot be made more attractive by repairing it and putting some floral display there.
Perhaps even an attractive noticeboard encouraging people to come back again would be a nice gesture.
I doubt if it would cost a whole lot of money and it’s a pity that Links Avenue lets Carnoustie down when High Street is looking so attractive.
Elaine Jewson. 3 South Taymouth Street, Carnoustie.