Letters: Councillors should be shown secret road report

I was shocked to be contacted by the Evening News to say that they had a copy of a leaked report which was commissioned to look at the management of the Roads and Transport Departments of the council.

Like many councillors on the Transport and Environment Committee, I was aware that such a report had been commissioned and had attended a briefing on the interim findings.

Despite Cllr Rose and I asking for further reports or updates on this report, nothing further has been forthcoming.

Indeed, the response from a senior officer was that this was an internal departmental report and not for committee. The Evening News has now seen this report and councillors should now have sight of the report and its findings.

The article in the Evening News states that the report details mismanagement, lack of proper accounting and failure to control costs – these are proper concerns for councillors and this report should be laid before the Transport and Environment Committee at the earliest opportunity.

I would like Transport & Environment Committee convener Lesley Hinds’ assurance that this report will be presented to councillors at the next committee on October 28.

Councillor Joanna Mowat, City Centre Ward, Edinburgh City Council

Cameron must look at fallout from Iraq attack

Once the fighters of IS and their positions have been sufficiently softened up to anticipate a successful ground offensive against them, has our government given any real thought as to what happens next?

What happens if the Iraqi and Kurdish armies are not well enough equipped or trained to win the ensuing ground offensive? Or the Arab League is unwilling to put soldiers on the ground to kill fellow Muslims? Whose soldiers will actually go and do the job? It is a question I don’t actually want to know the answer to, because I suspect David Cameron is thinking in terms of deliberately committing us beyond our offensive capability, and leaving an almighty mess for the next incoming Prime Minister.

The next General Election, like the last, could be a good one to lose: maybe we could lend Nicola to Westminster for five years - she’d know what to do.

David Fiddimore, Calton Road, Edinburgh

Roads should only be closed in emergencies

I disagree with plans to allow people such as Mr Thomas Lynch and his neighbours to apply for TROs (Traffic Regulation Orders) to close off city streets to motorists (‘Father calls for car ban so kids can play it safe’, Evening News, September 29).

TROs should only be used for road closures when there is an urgent need, such as road works, or by the council when large public events are being held. They should not be used by individual people in the belief that kids can play more safely outside in the street.

If people start using TROs in this sort of manner then don’t be surprised if people start to lose respect for them and ignore them.

If Mr Lynch is so concerned for the safety of his children then I suggest he takes them on a nice, healthy walk and takes them to the nearby and under used Lauriston Castle where there are two large fields that his kids can play on very safely without the worry of traffic being present.

Another alternative would be the large grassy areas down on the Cramond/Silverknowes seafront, again where there will be very little traffic.

I have paid my road taxes to use the roads and not have them closed off for very trivial reasons such as those proposed by Mr Lynch and his neighbours.

Mr Alastair Macintyre, Webster Place, Rosyth, Fife

Thank Yes voters for more devolution

In response to Cathy Crossley’s letter (News, September 29), whether one agrees or disagrees with Jim Sillars’ sentiments expressed in the Evening News (September 24), it is acceptable in a democracy to express an opinion (preferably without ‘bitterness’).

We don’t know if there was any intended bitterness in Mr Sillars’ writings. We are, however, left in absolutely no doubt there is ample evidence of considerable bitterness in C Crossley’s letter.

To speak of “the lies and exagerations of Alex Salmond” without adding the small matter of ‘substance’ to the allegation is tantamount to smearing those of a different opinion to her own.

To go on to describe those in the Yes movement as a “mob” is hardly reconcilliatory and is insulting to 45 per cent of voters. To suggest that Salmond is looking to “incite civil war in Scotland”, is no more than an insight into a ‘bitter mindset’.

The Scottish Government was represented at the St Giles’ service, as it will be in the Scottish Devolution Commission, which will hopefully secure the near to ‘home rule’ spoken of by Gordon Brown, subsequently agreed in principal by the three parties at Westminster.

If and when Scotland secures the added powers to improve our economy, achieve greater social justice and secure more job opportunities, I hope Cathy Crossley will have the good grace to be grateful to the Yes movement, without whom none of this would have been achieved. But I fear you will remain ‘bitter’ and in ‘denial’.

Dougie Jamieson, Barnton, Edinburgh