Letter: Going for gold

That Scotgold has not given up its quest to mine gold at Cononish is good news (your report, 21 July).

It has bent over backwards to accommodate the unreasonable demands of the National Park, within whose bounds the mine lies (just).

Scotgold has made clear its determination to landscape and disguise the mine, something the earlier lead miners did not do, yet their remains, overlooking Tyndrum, do not frighten the tourists.

This is an opportunity for the planning board to accept that developments like Cononish mine can be undertaken without detriment to the environment, and with benefit to the local and wider community.

Or they can be blinkered and send out a message to investors that Scotland is closed for business.

To deny a local community the fruits of the windfall of a unique and profitable opportunity such as this would be to deny it a future.

The land clearances of the 19th century were simply the will of the ruling class over the rights to life of the local populous.

It would be such a shame if the planning authorities produce a 21st century equivalent, a chocolate-box landscape shorn of life at the expense of local industry and prosperity.

Robert Lawson

Allanton

Castle Douglas