Letters: Let's go to work on an obvious building solution

Published on Friday 9 January 2009 08:49

YOUR report "City looks to buy cheap land from crunch-hit developers" (Evening News, January 8) made compelling reading.

These transactions will need to be monitored very closely by voters' groups throughout their progress, in order to make sure that the city does intend to develop the land – not merely buy low to sell high when the economy improves, which is what the council's financial gurus might advise.

We did not vote in councillors, or employ council officers, to become land and property speculators. We need houses for our people now, and work for our beleaguered building industry – cumulatively one of Scotland's largest employers now.

If the council is genuinely back in the market for development land it should start with the Caltongate patch in front of its offices, and build us 50 or 60 houses and flats for families paying affordable rents.

It has the opportunity here to provide a model for the rest of Scotland . . . we could yet see our council offices faced by a village of the people the council employees work for – and they would thus be reminded daily of the value we place on their services.

David Fiddimore, Nether Craigwell, Calton Road, Edinburgh

Confidence is key to economy's fate

WITH a further historic rate cut announced yesterday by the Bank of England, I'm left wondering why the lesson of earlier cuts has not been learned.

With the possible exception of the construction sector, most businesses I talk to are not complaining about the cost of credit.

In the current climate, they simply do not want to borrow more.

Similarly, for the average consumer, it isn't a shortage of money that's stifling the high street, it's an unwillingness to spend what they have.

So a strategy focused on cheaper borrowing and increasing money supply simply will not work. I really hope that, over the coming weeks and months, the government will take stock and listen.

Before any further rash policy announcements get made, the priority must be to invest time in developing a strategy focused on re-building business and consumer confidence.

Shattered confidence is the source of our current economic woes, and it's a concerted and strategic policy focused on carefully re-building that confidence which will ultimately turn things around.

Gordon Barraclough, founding partner, Taradin LLP, Glasgow

Where do they get these figures from?

AS a civil engineer of more than 33 years' experience, I often wonder how some of your correspondents come up with info such as costs to lift 7000-tonne cables into position for 91 million to 122m (Interactive, January 7) when the cost of the new cranes would take up most of that sum.

Anchor blocks would account for that amount for the concrete alone. If dampness got into the cables, surely, on a hot day, dampness would get out again?

Andrew Williamson, Kinghorn, Fife

Give cyclists some encouragement

AS a regular bike commuter into the city centre I was not surprised to see that area ranked second highest for bike thefts (News, January 8). Despite complaints from car drivers about city centre car-parking, a far bigger problem is the absence of secure and safe places to leave bicycles, despite the much more modest space needs of bikes.

Cycling the same route for 12 years now I have noticed a real increase in the number of people biking to work. But in no way has parking provision matched the increase in cyclists, far less matched where Edinburgh needs to be to be comparable to progressive European cities.

Few employers provide space for bicycles; hence the litany of bikes attached to railings and on to poles: unsafe, untidy and prone to theft.

But where are the alternatives?

So come on Edinburgh! Cyclists are reducing congestion, improving health and easing air pollution. What about giving us some encouragement?

Gavin Corbett, Briarbank Terrace, Edinburgh

Drive for motorist check-ups is right

THERE are some concerns medical check-ups for drivers may put more pressure on doctors' surgeries (Interactive, January 5).

Road accidents come in all shapes and forms, many through collisions caused by dangerous, high-speed driving.

But many accidents are also caused through physical failures such as cardiac failure, which is at the forefront of road accidents.

Then there are drink-driving, smoking-related illnesses and drug addiction.

There is also the age factor, where it is essential that there are regular check-ups. For those who work in transport, regular medicals are a must.

As far as the cost is concerned, check-ups for those in the transport industry should be free, but on condition that they attend the surgery for check-ups.

But for ordinary motorists, it should be their responsibility to pay for their own medical check-up, and it should be legally binding on them to provide a medical record if they are required to do so.

Chas Dennis, Niddrie Marischal Road, Edinburgh