Letters Page

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Hands off Beacon Learning Centre

SIR, – Aberdeen City Council has through its resources committee set in motion a plan to hand over sports facilities in Aberdeen to a sports trust and will operate these facilities at arm’s length. This, according to council members and officials, is to save money.

While this is admirable and necessary, they seem to have gone astray (no surprise) in their calculations. They have clearly targeted sports facilities with one exception as they have included only one community centre to be part of the trust.

Under this plan, the Beacon Community and Adult Learning Centre at Bucksburn would be swallowed up into the scheme as part of the financial savings. Council members and officials have been reminded that the Beacon activities are self-financing and do not run at a loss – therefore, no cost savings to the council.

The Beacon management committee (all volunteers) have managed a successful and developing programme for many years.

To local people and users of the Beacon, I would say that you need to start to ask questions about this issue.

The council seems determined to cash in on your efforts and to leave Bucksburn without its only community centre, which has a weekly usage of around 3,000 participants.

Mrs V. Farquhar,

Hopetoun Avenue,

Bucksburn, Aberdeen.

Credit crunch no time to go it alone

SIR, – If Mr Salmond had been successful in his quest for Scottish independence please tell me who would be bailing out our two major Scottish banks?

Presumably not the Bank of England.

The implosion of the Scottish economy would dwarf the Icelandic situation and make us all paupers for years to come.

Dr Richard Marsh,

Craigieburn Park,

Aberdeen.

Frustration for rescue services

SIR, – The lady hillwalker who was lost on Schiehallion without a map, compass or GPS published her thanks to the rescue services (P&J, October 8) and indicated how frustrating it must be for them to have to search for walkers who are ill-equipped, yet claims herself to be properly equipped.

The frustration for the rescue services must be that they cannot issue an appropriate public censure on a walker who thinks that she is properly equipped yet has no means of navigating herself to safety. Thankfully, the majority of regular hillwalkers appreciate the need for personal responsibility in this regard and do not rely on one member of the party to look after the whereabouts of everyone in it.

Ian A. Brown,

Golf Course Road,

Blairgowrie.

Don’t be precious about Doric

SIR, – The finely-tuned Scottish antennae for any form of perceived slight, particularly from the BBC, has been twitching again.

As reported in your newspaper (P&J, October 9), Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles is quoted as remarking, that while watching the programme Trawlermen, “I couldn’t understand a word they were saying”.

No surprises there! The Doric dialect can seem incomprehensible to the nation at large. How the Chris Moyles comment translates into a dig, and, “typical BBC arrogance”, is even more difficult to understand.

Surely the Doric dialect has evolved for just this reason. To prevent outsiders from knowing what is being said. That being the case, it would appear to be fulfilling its purpose very well indeed.

Doric is a colourful local dialect. The notion that more of it should be broadcast to the nation is overstating its importance. As for children being encouraged to use Doric in schools across Aberdeenshire, well, that should equip them very nicely to venture out into the wider world when they leave school.

Let’s not be so precious about this. Wider understanding of Doric is hardly possible. Why should it be? It would only lead to its dilution and almost certainly detract from its charm.

Jack Ward,

Townhead House,

Ardoe, Aberdeen.

Esther Rantzen’s comments

SIR, – I refer to Esther Rancid’s (sorry, Rantzen’s) extremely rude and hurtful comment featured in the quotes of the day (P&J, October 8), regarding John Sergeant.

I, and I suspect many others including many viewers of Countdown and news broadcasts, would like to say that Ms Rantzen (and awful people like her) should not forget that “people who live in glass houses should not throw stones”!

Peter Longmoor,

Cromwell Court,

Aberdeen.

Praise for P&J photograph

SIR, – The photographer who shot the Amur tigers (Press and Journal, October 7) should take a bow, they are so beautiful. I shall be visiting the Highland Wildlife Park at Kingussie to see them in reality. The eyes of those handsome animals are captured in such an appealing portrait, an excellent photograph. Thank you for displaying it in your newspaper.

Ethel Anderson,

Easter Place,

Portlethen, Aberdeen.

Aberdeen City Council spending

SIR, – I was pleased to see that Aberdeen City Council managed to escape the loss of funds in the bank collapses by spending it before the crunch. What foresight and forward planning.

Dave A. Reid,

Meadowvale,

Ellon.