Letters: Reward high standard of work with job security

Over the past few weeks I have seen several people comment that the council should go ahead with privatising environmental services because we get such a poor service from street cleansing and refuse collection. This has not been my experience.

I find that the collection of household waste and recycling is done reliably and tidily, and street cleansing is also very good.

Last week I phoned at lunchtime to report someone had dumped a mattress on the pavement in our street; by the time I got home from work it was gone.

A few weeks ago I phoned to report, of all things, a pig’s head at the bottom of the Innocent Railway tunnel and it was removed within hours, and I regularly report glass on the Innocent path which is always dealt with within 24 hours.

I would urge councillors to take into account the many, many residents of Edinburgh who are satisfied with the in-house services when they make their decision.

Kirsten Hey, St Leonards Hill, Edinburgh

Shame silence not kept by all

I FIND it hard to believe that on Friday companies didn’t honour the two-minute silence which was to be observed by the nation. I saw recycling crews who were collecting my cardboard in my street stop what they were doing and actually stand at the side of their vehicle, no speaking taking place and observing the remembrance of men and women who gave their lives for us to be here today.

At the same time our bin men drove into the street and carried on like it was any normal day of the week and buses drove past doing the same.

I find it hard to understand how stopping for only two minutes in a day would affect any one working day.

Well done to the recycling men, and the rest should be ashamed of themselves.

Mrs Sutton, North Bughtlin Place, Edinburgh

Co-op opportunity must be grasped

GINA Davidson’s criticism of Labour’s Moving Edinburgh Forward document and our aim to develop co-operatives (News, November 10) stated when people are trying hard to find jobs, to keep jobs, to pay debts and keep a roof over their family’s head, the last thing on their mind is helping build a co-operative.

In our document Edinburgh Labour set out three possible co-ops – energy, child care and housing – which could help move Edinburgh forward.

We do believe there is the potential for far more, but let’s take each of these in turn.

An energy co-op fitting renewable energy at homes across the city would not only benefit the environment and help reduce bills, but would create a number of jobs and apprenticeships.

A child care co-op ensuring accessible, affordable child care in our communities would help working families and keep child care costs down.

A housing co-op would deliver housing for first-time buyers unable to get on the housing ladder.

In those three simple ideas we aim to create jobs, make work pay, reduce bills and help people into homes, addressing exactly the issues Gina highlighted.

We will of course add to our initial ideas in the run-up to the election, but to dismiss them as not addressing the problems facing families in Edinburgh is disingenuous.

Co-ops deliver right across the world, but we need to grasp the opportunity.

Paul Godzik, councillor for Meadows & Morningside

Irony as system gets Tory vote

IN the May referendum the Conservative party virulently opposed the use of the Alternative Vote system for future UK General Elections.

The Tories said that it was not clear cut, undermined the principle of “one person, one vote”, and that the first past the post system should be maintained as there was the potential for “second choices” to be elected.

It is therefore bizarre to note that the Scottish Conservatives elected their new leader by the very same system they had previously spent so much energy ridiculing.

Alex Orr, Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh