Letters: School librarians must not be shelved as the axe falls

The school librarian service plays a key role in the work of the school, and specifically in the national literacy programme, and it should not be undermined.

Investing in the young people of the future, along with valuing the staff who support them, needs to be given much higher profile in Edinburgh's budget priorities. The population trends are for an increase in the number of young people living in Edinburgh, and we believe education cuts to be short-sighted.

We hope that the budget to be agreed on Thursday for Edinburgh will address the issues raised by school communities in recent months, and set out a different approach for the next few years.

Ann Henderson, chair, James Gillespie's High School council

Give us jotters, not Narnia-style lights

I CANNOT believe that the council is considering spending its limited funds on replacing the city's concrete streetlights (News, 6 February). The block I live on is said to have had 100,000 spent on it recently in the form of new paving and "Narnia"-style street lighting, while my children's school (Flora Stevenson's) is struggling with a shortage of pens, jotters and even toilet seats.

I appreciate that the money for street lighting and education comes from different budgets, but the council has to get its priorities right. What is more important: schools or non-essential urban beautification schemes?

Nigel Bagshaw, Lennox Street, Edinburgh

Petition against cuts is growing

YOUR story "Campaigners say even 1% education cut is too much" (News, 9 February) wrongly stated that 600 parents had signed the online petition against the cuts. In fact, it is over 1,600 and still rising day by day.

Add to this almost 1,000 parents and young people signing up to the Facebook campaign and individual petitions organised by parent councils, we already have thousands of people in Edinburgh saying no to cuts.

Gavin Corbett, Briarbank Terrace, Edinburgh

Delinquent plots need addressed

I WAS delighted to read that the city council has ambitious plans to provide 2100 new allotment plots on 29 new sites (News, 3 February). These plans are necessary to address the massive waiting list of 2,152 folk eager to get a plot. They will be paid for in part by a monumental hike in plot rentals of 100 per cent from this year till 2014.

It would be great if a significant number of plots (say 120) could be made available this year. These plots could come with no increase in rents or extra funding required to set sites up.

How? Well, at least 10 per cent of the current plots are in such a poor state of cultivation that they fail the council's own tenancy rules. A further percentage of plots are borderline. Historically the council hastaken a fairly relaxed attitude to these dirty or delinquent plots. These days plots are a real and much sought after community asset and should not be wasted.

So while I wholeheartedly applaud these new plans as a real and serious attempt to solve the shortfall of plots, I would also urge the council to address the issue of delinquent plots.

After all, wouldn't it be a scandal if we got the 2,000 plots but within a few seasons 200 of them were also failing the standard?

John and Monica McKinlay, Craigentinny allotments

Fife track in first place for training

THE News (2 February) suggested that a young driving training course starting at Ingliston is believed to be the first of its type in Scotland.

Knockhill Racing Circuit, by Dunfermline, has been running TeenDrive for 18 months, and has now introduced TeenDrive 2, in response to demand.

Our original format is similar to, indeed is more involved than, the Ingliston venture and has had interest and input from Road Safety Scotland and Fife Police.

Stuart Gray, director, Knockhill

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