Letters Page

Published:

Facilities for competitive sports

SIR, – Referring to Mrs V. Farquhar’s letter (the Press and Journal, October 10), I agree that the Beacon Community Education Centre must continue providing an outlet for community learning and development (CL&D). Indeed, the council report dated September 30, proposing transfer of sporting facilities to a sports trust, allows for this. However, it is time for CL&D to be administered separately to competitive sports.

The Beacon’s weekly usage by 3,000 participants is significantly made up of sports groups. It has the largest sports hall of any city community education centre and has a national gymnastics facility attached. The sports facilities cannot be detached for the purposes of the sports trust programme, but self-financing adult learning centre activities can.

Competitive sport has long been stifled by Beacon management who have no sporting expertise. If we are to produce Commonwealth and Olympic medals, it is necessary to remove competitive sport from the responsibility of community education centres, a fact specified in a university report commissioned by Aberdeen City Council 30 years ago.

Handing over sports facilities to a sports trust may or may not be a way forward for city sport, but if it means that there will be an overhaul in the way that sport in Aberdeen is addressed by the council, then bring it on.

Lynn Cadger,

Woodhill Place,

Aberdeen.

Clarifying costs of the AWPR

SIR, – The Cults, Bieldside, Milltimber Community Council has written numerous letters to Transport Scotland over the past 18 months seeking clarification of the costs of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR). We have been advised repeatedly that it would be between £295million and £395million. We now understand that the £347million quoted in the public inquiry is based on fourth quarter 2003 rates.

Apart from the fact that we feel we have been misled, we are astonished that Transport Scotland is using cost estimates that are five years out of date. Anybody involved in project management will know the enormous escalation in project costs since 2003.

Although this may not be a significant issue for the AWPR road engineers, it certainly is for the Aberdeen taxpayer. To pay for its proportion of the AWPR, Aberdeen City Council is currently budgeting in excess of £60million, based on 2003 rates, uncapped. They know this is a fraction of the real cost of building the road.

No doubt when the true costs emerge we will face a further budget crisis and more cuts in council services. It makes you despair at the way public finances are managed in Scotland at national and local level. We can only hope that opposition MSPs are more successful in their latest efforts to get more realistic cost estimates out of the transport minister.

Peter Reiss,

chairman, Cults, Bieldside, Milltimber Community Council,

Colthill Circle,

Milltimber, Aberdeen.

Collections for charity

SIR, – I am becoming concerned about the avalanche of leaflets and bags coming through my letterbox begging for unwanted clothes, shoes and so on.

We are getting an average of about one every week, except this week, when we received three, including two on one day.

Then there is the problem of the one which arrives after an earlier one but promises an earlier collection date: to which do I give?

Although, this is really academic, as of the last three I put out only one was collected, and anyway I have run out of offerings.

Most of these things come from well-known and reliable charities, although of some I am not so sure.

Although this is a good way for charities to raise funds, the duplication must be involving them in much unwanted expense, thus taking funds away from their goal.

Could they not get together and pool resources in some way, raising more money and also reducing the annoyance factor?

M.C. Green,

35 Bruce Crescent,

Ellon.

Changes in cost of fuel

SIR, – I feel that I have to air my views on the price of products in Scotland, especially after returning from a holiday to the US.

Now that the price of crude oil is below $80 a barrel, I thought that the price of petrol and diesel would have dropped, as it has on the other side of the Atlantic, but alas no.

Can anyone explain why the price goes up very quickly when the cost of crude goes up, but fails to do likewise when it falls? Someone is making a big profit.

Come on: we should not let this happen to us.

Doug Donaldson,

Coplandhill Road,

Peterhead.

Exploits of HMS Bramble

SIR, – Your story (the Press and Journal, October 10) about veterans of the World War II Arctic convoys had a picture of HMS Bramble.

Sadly, she was lost with all hands after taking on the German cruiser Admiral Hipper.

Bramble’s heroic deed bought some valuable time for the convoy to disperse.

The Bramble's exploits are fully detailed on the HMS Bramble website.

Pat MacDonald,

City of Inverness Royal Naval Association,

East MacKenzie Park,

Inverness.