Sir, – Aberdeen City Council, have you closed the road or not?
Except cycles… Don’t think this bus fits the description.
Matthew Finnie, Cults.
Census fines are worth £300m
Sir, – Professor James Brown, who is leading a group of international authorities in providing external advice on the quality of the Scottish census, said it has a “solid foundation” despite return rates being “lower than originally planned”.
He has avoided any mention of the cost. The original estimate for the census was £117 million and delaying it for a year added another £21.6m. The original deadline for completing the census was May 1.
Due to a poor response this was extended to May 31 and then June 12. This delay will add another £10m, giving a total cost of £148.6m.
As at May 31, 326,368 households had not completed the census and there are fines of £1,000 for failing to fill in the survey.
Can we therefore expect a taxpayers’ bonus of say 300,000 x £1,000 (£300m) or will the Scottish Government fudge their responsibilities?
Clark Cross. Springfield Road, Linlithgow.
Democratic deficit at the Harbour
Sir, – Wouldn’t it be nice for your company to receive £53 million from UKGov and ScotGov with no public debate, public scrutiny, democratic input or oversight.
This is the situation with ETZ Ltd, Sir Ian Wood’s brainchild built on the back of the Harbour’s Masterplan 2020.
The three founders (ONE, the old Aberdeen Harbour and Scottish Enterprise) have taken it upon themselves to help transition the oil and gas industry in the north-east to a low-carbon future.
The business case must have been compelling (NB it’s never been made publicly available) as the Treasury announced £27m funding in the budget of March 3 2021. Curiously ETZ Ltd wasn’t incorporated until April 30 last year.
These are Sir Ian’s words of April 23 2021 (note the date) from his speech at a Business Breakfast and the P&J Business supplement. This more than a year before the Reporter even decides if the re-zoning of St Fittick’s can go ahead: “The scale and importance of the opportunity cannot be overstated.
“By 2030 we will have designed and completed the phased development of a unique Energy Transition Zone adjacent to the new harbour development at Aberdeen South Harbour.
“It is a ‘shovel ready’ project, with a comprehensive business case supported and endorsed…”
I call on the new council to examine the democratic deficit at ETZ Ltd.
Richard Caie. Wood Street, Torry.
Renewables are cheapest energy
Sir, – Your correspondent George Herraghty suggests that it is renewables, especially wind farms, that are causing the current spike in electricity prices. This is nonsense.
Renewable energy in the UK is by far the cheapest form of electricity available to the National Grid.
Most of the contracts for renewable energy, however, are long-term and fixed-price. Due to the variable nature of renewables, the National Grid does not always need the electricity but the supplier is paid as per the contract anyway.
Mr Gerraghty complains about the cost of these so-called constraint payments. In fact, they represent less than 2% of the value of electricity as a whole.
The spike in electricity prices is almost all down to the high cost of natural gas which still provides much of the UK’s power.
Because of trans-continental pipelines and giant tankers, gas is now in a global market where the price is similar everywhere. So, if interruptions in supply (eg, the invasion of Ukraine) meet a boom in demand (post-Covid south-east Asia) the price will certainly go up.
Mr Herraghty refers to the work of the so-called Renewable Energy Foundation. If this were a responsible organisation, it would now be advocating a move away from expensive gas-fired power towards a mix of renewables and power storage solutions.
This would bring in a new era of very low cost, and very clean, electricity for all.
Jeff Rogers. Waters of Feugh, Banchory.
‘Curbing carbon’ is policy madness
Sir, – I regret that Lesley Ellis regards my views on allegedly man-made climate changes as outdated.
Her opinions must not go unchallenged.
She sees adverse climate changes as threats “we” must tackle, overlooking the collaboration problems stemming from the international policy disarray as to, say, decarbonisation.
Many eastern governments do not convincingly intend to adopt that entirely unproven means of influencing climate. The UK’s authorities are sold on “curbing carbon” despite the costs of at least £3 trillion and dire societal disruption.
That is a clear example of policy madness.
Difficulties in offsetting adverse climate changes include not only the enormous costs but the fact that nature’s mechanisms of climate control are still poorly understood. Therefore, rational means of preventing adverse changes are not yet evident.
Work reported from Canada by Ratzer and Lightfoot and from Denmark and Israel shows that given CO2’s quantitative, physical and molecular chemical features, reducing its amount would predictably fail to impact climate.
CO2 is essential for stimulation of all plant growth, for the beasts and for humanity.
Climate is regulated by water vapour, governed by the sun’s varying activity. That is entering a grand solar minimum, predicted to cool the Earth by about one degree Celsius, and last for several decades hence.
It will likely obviate any tendency to planetary overheating.
CO2’s role as a major greenhouse gas is now seen as being overwhelmed by water vapour, representing over 95% of the greenhouse gases.
We cannot influence the sun, cosmic rays or the atmosphere’s water vapour.
Scientific progress thrives on arguments such as those on climate control. Lesley Ellis will surely agree.
Charles Wardrop. Viewlands Road West, Perth.
Prefabs will solve UK housing crisis
Sir, – The reason I finally decided Boris should go was his budget, which had more to do with blunting Labour and appeasing his core voters that solving the cost of living crisis.
His new ploy of enabling benefit claimants to buy their social housing is still avoiding the biggest cause of the crisis: the cost of a decent home.
How can a benefit claimant afford a mortgage, and who will fund the subsidised price?
This country needs millions of cheap, well built, attractive flat pack council houses, like the prefabs of the 1950s, in safe, family friendly neighbourhoods.
Unfortunately I can’t see Boris, Sir Keith, Nicola or Anwar having the imagination, drive, or empathy to make this happen.
Allan Sutherland. Willow Row, Stonehaven.
Ukraine doesn’t need Johnson
Sir, – Britain and Nato’s continued support for Ukraine is vitally important. But to suggest, as the Tories are, that for this to continue it is essential for Boris Johnson to remain as prime minister is utter nonsense. One cardinal rule in any well-run business is that “no one is indispensable”.
Oh, but I forgot that our government is not run by competent individuals but by a cabal of Johnson acolytes who all depend on the PM’s patronage to remain in office.
The reality is that it matters nought who our prime minister is as the UK’s support for Ukraine will continue undiminished no matter who is PM. If not then there is something very wrong with our government.
Indeed many would argue Ukraine would benefit greatly from a PM who tells the truth, has integrity, loyalty and is seen to deliver on numerous broken promises.
Mike Rasmussen. Aboyne.
Street reopening takes a bad turn
Having just read the article on proposed reopening of Union Street, and then read it again because I thought I must have made a mistake, I wonder what is going through the mind of our councillors.
As a resident in the south of the city, it appears that if I want to take a taxi to MacDonald’s or Beaverbrooks on Union Street I have to be driven from Bridge Street to Union Terrace to Rosemount Viaduct to Back Wynd to Union Street.
I sincerely hope that I have misunderstood your article but it seems that our new council, which I was happy to see take control, has started as badly as the last one finished.
I hope someone can put my mind at rest on this issue.
Rab Hutcheon
School’s out for Eton boy
Boris Johnson must have thought he was back at Eton College when he took a right caning from his own party on Monday.
His report card is well marked now and the Conservative party will be quietly grooming a replacement leader as a plan B for the future of the party.
Boris Johnson as always come out in attack mode as the best defence but even he must realise that his job as prime minister is on a very “shoogly peg”.
DF Grattan, Bucksburn, Aberdeen