Letters: No silver lining the pockets when liners come to town

I live opposite the public car park on Newhalls Road and would like to highlight the chaos brought to South Queensferry on those occasions and other events (licensed by the city council) which take place over the summer months.

When the liners are tied up the "public car park" is not available to the public since it is closed off to accommodate the 30/40 coaches required to bus the visitors off to other parts of Scotland.

This year the above situation has coincided with necessary repairs to the Hawes Pier and a third of the car park being closed off to accommodate the work cabins/offices and the Ferry Fair which denies the use of the parking area for a week and also creates a great deal of frustration for people wishing to attend the festivities.

The point I would like to make is that surely out of 30m a sum could be found to create an "overflow" car park which could be brought into play for coaches and cars on these occasions thereby making South Queensferry a more pleasant place to live and visit.

Patricia R Mackay, Newhalls Road, South Queensferry

Cardinal owes an apology to US

IN July my husband and I plus two of our friends went on a 16-day tour of Scotland. The country and her people were beautiful and so very friendly, and what a history. We were so happy to spend our hard-earned money there.

As much as we enjoyed your country, we do not understand how you could have released the man Megrahi who killed all those people on Pan Am flight 103. He was convicted of the bombing of that flight.

Were you not compassionate enough in giving him a life in prison instead of what he did to the people on that flight? Megrahi is a hero in his country.

We are sickened by the statement by Cardinal Keith O'Brien that the US has a "culture of vengeance". There is a feeling of hate that comes from his words towards the US.

We are Catholics and are ashamed of Cardinal O'Brien. He should apologise to the families of those killed in the bombing and all the justice-loving people he has offended.

Rosemary Baratta, Broomall, Pennsylvania

Bicycle-friendly cities lead way

I'M writing in response to Chris Behr's letter in which he condemns a cyclist for weaving in front of him at 5mph (News, August 19) and also failing to use lights and a helmet as a matter of style choice which increases the chances of an accident.

There is no legislation to say that a cyclist should wear a helmet, Rule 45 of the Highway code merely suggests it. What is a legal requirement, however, is for drivers to wear seatbelts, use hands-free phones and adhere to speed limits. These are things that drivers choose to ignore in worrying numbers and there is no argument which form of transport would cause the most damage to another human being.

A huge proportion of Edinburgh was built before cars were even invented and even sections that were built as late as the 50s and 60s didn't have this volume of cars considered in the planning process. In this day and age when environmental issues are to the fore as well as our relatively poor health as a western nation, perhaps we should emulate Barcelona and more recently London in providing bikes to hire. As a taxpayer I would be willing to fund this rather than the constant widening of roads and the overall general maintenance caused by overused roads.

Michael Brock, Gilmerton Edinburgh

Make protesters clean up their act

REGARDING the climate protesters in Edinburgh, you will find a lot of these tree-huggers and trouble-makers will be students, unemployed and professional agitators.

I would suggest the best way to disperse them is to fire bars of soap into the crowd.

James Sherry, Northfield, Edinburgh