Letters: Building barriers between communities is not answer

While I disagree with vandalism and antisocial behaviour, blocking pathways will not be the answer. This could have the adverse effect. Unfortunately lots of this behaviour is happening all over the city.

This same group also opposed the building of the new Craigroyston High School close to their homes. What do these people want? A Berlin Wall within North Edinburgh?

They are not an elitists’ group who can dictate what they want.

The majority of people from Muirhouse are decent people who strive to improve their community and retain good links with surrounding neighbourhoods.

Perhaps the answer is getting activist groups together within the neighbourhoods to consult with each other. This would hopefully help to solve the problem.

Anna Hutchison, 18 Crewe Road West, Edinburgh

Scotland is better off on its own

With monotonous continuity, a common theme rang through the conferences of the mainstream political parties: preserve the union.

This acquainted us Scots with their cause of grief; that the break-up of Britain would result in economic damage.

That must be an embarrassing prospect for them because they have finally had to acknowledge that without Scotland’s oil, whisky, gas, water, etc, England would not so much gain independence as be somewhat dependant on Scotland.

All the in-built made-in-London deniabilities could not alter the fact that Scotland would be much better off as an  independent nation state. One benefit rational Englishmen and women would possibly appreciate is that England would not be able to afford political incursions into wretched far-off lands like Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq,  et al.

Anyone wrestling with his or her conscience that Scotland is better off as part of the United Kingdom will lose hands down because the starkly obvious truth needs no emphasis  here.

If the recent conferences did not convince you, nothing  will.

William Burns, Pennywell Road, Edinburgh

Consider all Porty school options

Portobello High School urgently needs replaced. Since there appear to be routes to allow the school to proceed as planned they should be pursued, given that any alternative inevitably involves a long delay and significant additional  costs.

At the same time the council should be looking for an alternative site, even though the alternatives seem extremely limited and inherently  poorer.

The council should seek to find a way to overcome the legal judgment, AND consider an alternative site for the school.

Sean Watters, Brighton Place, Portobello, Edinburgh

Locomotive was wrongly named

YOUR feature Scotland and Britain today (October 4) carries a picture of a steam  locomotive, which you refer to as “the Dominion of Canada, the sister engine of the  Mallard”.

The locomotive shown is indeed a Class A4 Pacific locomotive, and is therefore one of a number of engines of the same class as Mallard. However, it is not the Dominion of Canada, it is Dwight D  Eisenhower.

Keith Halley, Newbattle Abbey Crescent, Dalkeith

Reflection doesn’t have to be religious

I was delighted to see Professor Norman Bonney’s paper on “proportional praying” in the Scottish Parliament being discussed in the Evening News (September 5).

That our politicians, as part of their public service, give over some time to consideration of the bigger philosophic picture is not a bad thing, but Professor Bonney’s statistics show the grossly disproportionate extent to which these weekly meditations are led by religious people, and mainly Christians at that.

“Time for reflection” shouldn’t just mean “Time for religious reflection”.

Neil Barber, Saughtonhall Drive, Edinburgh