Letters: Children’s education is the casualty of a hopeless idea

Castlebrae is a casualty of Edinburgh City Council’s failed market-led regeneration strategy for Craigmillar.

It was a ridiculous idea from the start that private sector companies would make substantial contributions to improving our community in return for consents to build thousands of houses for sale and commercial developments such as a huge superstore.

They took the money and ran, leaving a litany of cruel, false, broken promises like a never-to-be-built new secondary school.

The council should stop blaming parents and insulting children to cover up their own inadequacies and mistakes. Their behaviour is shameful.

Kathleen and Paul Nolan, Niddrie Marischal Crescent, Edinburgh

School is lacking council support

Over the past five years a range of critical programmes have been cut from the Castlebrae’s budget and valuable resources have been removed and not replaced.

The quote printed from a senior council member was insensitive to the people working hard every day to deliver education under very difficult circumstances without adequate support from the council.

Leah Levine, Edinburgh

Picture clears up on television

Michelle Smythe’s letter on broadcasting after independence (Letters, September 11) is just speculation as the Scottish Government doesn’t publish its independence plans until next year.

In any event it could well be a Labour or Tory government in charge after independence, but we haven’t heard any of their policies for a new Scotland.

After independence I am sure we will get many more programmes relevant to viewers in Scotland, and those BBC shows not broadcast by the Scottish national broadcaster could be seen if required by simply getting an additional aerial and point it at the nearest UK transmitter to receive the full London BBC and UK Freeview package.

Just as they can do in Ireland those outside that range can get a satellite dish with a decoder to get all free broadcasts or in a very worst case scenario subscribe to Sky.

Mary Thomas, Watson Crescent, Edinburgh

Money wasted by the Nationalists

ONE of your readers thinks independence would save us £50 million every year by getting rid of Westminster (Letters, September 11). That is a drop in the ocean compared to the money wasted by the SNP.

For example, why are we funding free university places at a cost of £75 million for students from inside the EU countries? This is something of a mystery to me.

F Rutherford, Leith

Chaos rules with Labour in charge

My address in Craigmillar has not been provided with any recycling bins even though I have been in touch with the council on four occasions.

Councillor Maureen Child and the MSP Sheila Gilmore have also been contacted to no avail. This initiative has now started and I believe it was progressed without any planning or regard for the actual council tax payers involved.

Even although I was promised on August 10 that these bins would be provided within three weeks and after talking to many staff who are as stressed out as I am regarding this issue it has to be said that nothing much changes when Labour are elected as all they seem to do is allow chaos to rule.

Eleanor O’Donnell, Craigmillar, Edinburgh

What on Earth do they stand for?

It would appear to me that the political parties of our country are making the big mistake of underestimating the people of Great Britain.

It is clear to me that they, in some cases, have never served time with their fellow citizens “learning the ropes”.

As far as I am aware, none of the leaders has issued any instructions as to how to tackle the financial problem or the recession.

If they don’t know, why did they stand for office?

CJR Fentiman, Polwarth Gardens, Edinburgh