| Letters - 20 April 2005 |
| Difference between life and death |
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| WE ARE disgusted and saddened by the announcement from the Scottish Executive, confirmed by First Minister Jack McConnell, that it looks very likely that Tayside Emergency Fire Control will be amalgamated along with all the other controls in Scotland. |
| Meanwhile there are plans for 27,000 new teachers, 500 Special Constables, hundreds of consultants and thousands of nurses.
It is so reassuring to know that we are placed so far down the line and are so much less important than all these people.
Teachers are needed, and nurses are also very important, but these people will not get a fire engine to your door when you need it.
I hope all voters are aware of the proposals and are equally aware of the effect this may have on them.
If these proposals take place, we are looking at one Fire Control for the whole of Scotland, which would be almost guaranteed to be in Glasgow.
Glasgow staff are not coping too well with the calls they receive now, never mind adding all the rest of Scotland to their tally.
Tayside alone deals with around 16,000 emergency calls each year.
We have lots of unusual names, pronunciations, unusual spellings of names here, and if you live in one of these areas you can be worried.
If anyone has needed an ambulance since they amalgamated, you will know what this means.
They have no local knowledge and this is clearly evident when talking calls.
Don’t let this happen to Fire Control. It may mean the difference between life and death. — Laura Regan, Tayside Fire Control.
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| Cheers for the Dundee Sharks |
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Dundee Sharks with their trophies.
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| THERE WERE more than two cheerleading teams competing in the Caird Hall, Dundee.
What about the Sharks and the Tornados? We may not have come first, but our team (Sharks) came away with six trophies. It was their first year in the competition.
My three nieces Niomi, Rikky and Kaitlyn are in the team which is run by Michelle McDermott. Come on, let’s give them a mention. — Joan Walker, Dundee.
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| Took cancer patient’s space |
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| I HOPE the gentleman in the blue Fiesta was pleased with himself on April 14, at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.
After allowing a driver to come out of a disabled space, which I was waiting to occupy, he decided he would snatch the space.
He moved from the setting down bay into the space without a thought.
After confronting him he informed us he had been waiting for 30 minutes for a space.
I’m sorry, but you have to do what everybody else does and drive around and hope for the best.
He took the space from a disabled cancer patient and sat in his car and read the paper. — Furious Carer.
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| Wormit needs houses |
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| HAVING READ the local plans for Wormit, I find little problem with them.
Much of the land for house building is little more than waste land that I’ve never seen used for agricultural purposes.
Wormit has in the last 20 years lost three shops, butcher, chemist and The Shopping Basket, and the Beehives (replaced with housing).
We want a rail halt and a secondary school, the nearest is 45 minutes on a bus to St Andrews, which is not ideal.
These also depend on population, and I doubt their viability without a population growth.
The problems I see are:
The proposed business units on the old goods yard would require better road access.
This means either providing access via Bay Road onto Goods Yard Road which is possible, though Bay Road is hardly suitable for the sort of traffic at which we may be looking. The alternative is widening Goods Yard Road from the Wormit Farm end, which involves a rail underpass.
The suggestion that Wormit is a rural village is a joke. Balmerino is a village. Wormit is a commuter town that can’t even support its own local businesses. — Wormit Resident.
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| Still an eyesore |
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| I TOTALLY agree with the letter regarding the untidy site in Strathmartine Road at the Downfield, Dundee, terminus. |
| I TOTALLY agree with the letter regarding the untidy site in Strathmartine Road at the Downfield, Dundee, terminus.
Why should we have to pass it daily on the way to the bus. There have been complaints before and though the owners did tidy some of it up, it is still an eyesore. — Another Angry Resident.
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| Skateboard sought |
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| IF ANYONE has taken a skateboard from Forthill Park, Broughty Ferry, could he or she please, please, please return it.
It had an orange graphic of a burning building on the bottom. Phone 07845261441. — Dave.
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| THE ADDRESS for readers’ letters is - Readers’ Page, Evening Telegraph, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL. They can also be placed in our post box at our offices in Albert Square, Dundee, emailed to us on letters@eveningtelegraph.co.uk or faxed on 01382 454590. We ask correspondents using a nom-de-plume or sending by e-mail to provide a name and address for reference purposes. The editor reserves the right to reject or edit any letter. Please keep letters as short as possible.* |
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