SIR, – I write with regard to your headline “Aberdeen home sales in surprise price surge” (the Press and Journal, October 16).
How on earth can it be “encouraging”, as claimed by John MacRae, of the Aberdeen Solicitors’ Property Centre (ASPC), to have house prices on the increase?
Was it not inflated house prices and the ability to borrow to keep up with the inflated prices that caused this mess that taxpayers will be coughing up for, for about the next 20 years?
A single-bedroom flat should be no more than three times the average wage of an 18-26-year-old. If it is more, they have to borrow more and we are back at stage one.
A 25-year mortgage based on the core industry of this fine city that will be moving away in 10-15 years just might be the worst bit of business you ever do.
Bruce Strachan,
8 Forvie Way,
Bridge of Don.
Aberdeen.
SIR, – The Acsef (Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future) vision for Aberdeen city centre is for a more-attractive, greener, better-connected, safer city centre with a vibrant cultural hub that offers an accessible and enjoyable focal point for the whole community.
We believe this is key to creating jobs, opportunities and quality of life for the future.
Raising Union Terrace Gardens and covering over the Denburn dual carriageway will enable the connectivity that our dislocated city centre needs, create a new civic space for all to enjoy all year round and help restore the civic pride that many Aberdonians, like me, have seen eroded.
This is not about “concreting over the gardens”, nor is it about car parking or retail. These myths are trotted out by those opposing the plans.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for our city.
Peacock has planning permission for its design. Our plans need to be consulted on before we can move to detailed design. If the public don't wish to support our proposal, the option is to go with Peacock’s design, if the funding gap can be met. If that fails, nothing will happen.
I make no apology for Acsef's bold and aspirational ambition for the region.
The public should get involved in the consultation before deciding what is for the greater good of our city and its citizens.
Tom Smith,
chairman of Acsef,
27-29 King Street,
Aberdeen.
SIR, – Last week, the Princess Royal joined survivors and other representatives at Scapa Flow, Orkney, in a ceremony to remember the massive loss of young life aboard HMS Royal Oak, 70 years after the battleship was sunk by U-boat 47 of the German navy.
This was duly reported by the Press and Journal of October 15. However, there was no reference to the tremendous heroism and seamanship of the skipper and crew of Daisy II FR270, a commandeered herring fishing steam drifter, on naval guard duty.
Skipper John Gatt, from Rosehearty, and his fishermen crew helped to save hundreds of sailors from drowning in the dark, cold waters of Scapa Flow on that fateful night. It was a deed of exemplary courage from men of the sea that should be revered forever.
John W.C. Thomson,
Carloway,
Stotfield,
Lossiemouth.
SIR, – Having seen the horrific pictures of the woman in Australia releasing hold of her baby buggy and (inadvertently) allowing it to run and fall in front of a moving train, isn't it time for the manufacturers to fit such buggies with failsafe brakes as fitted on luggage trolleys at airports?
It appears that we have more concern for our travel luggage than we do for a defenceless child.
Ian Gray-Taylor,
Whitemyre House,
Daviot,
Inverurie.
SIR, – Your story (October 17) regarding methane gas been released into the atmosphere around a disused landfill site came as no surprise to me.
There are potentially dangerous landfill sites all over the UK, but in Aberdeenshire there are many.
It’s not just the Kirkhill site that will have to be looked at, but many others. At the moment, one of the larger sites, at Stoneyhill, on the outskirts of Peterhead, is being bombarded on a daily basis with rubbish from all over Scotland.
The removal of all waste in an environmentally-friendly way must be sought by fully-qualified persons, not a councillor who has no knowledge whatsoever regarding what happens when you dump unknown substances in the ground.
Landfill was and still is a dangerous way of dumping rubbish, more so when the people who live close by do not know what is going to happen in future years.
Next time you pass a landfill site, have a look at the maze of pipes and valves stuck into the ground, a sure sign that something is wrong.
Gavin Elder,
10 Mallard Drive,
Peterhead.