| Letters - 07 February 2006 |
| Real fear of crime |
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| RE “SUFFERING in Silence” in Friday’s Tele, I have spent two of the last three years working among the people of Dundee’s Hilltown area, not just occasionally, but most days of the week. |
| Now Hilltown is getting the same pre-election treatment as Lochee.
There is a very real fear of crime in Hilltown, and not a lot is done about it.
The police can only do so much — there is much, much more that can be initiated by councillors.
More time should be spent by Councillor Chris Hind with the people who live there.
If it were not for many fine community workers in the area, the situation would be a lot worse.
Councillors should try living a few days in the area. — Dundee Reader.
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| Nothing to offer |
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| AFTER READING your article about democratic representatives visiting Dundee’s Hilltown, what struck me most was that they had absolutely nothing to offer the people there.
The survey could have easily been carried out by sociology or psychology students, as all it was dealing with was people’s perceptions of crime.
The whole exercise was a sham and showed once again that politicians have no solution.
More Asbos is not the answer. The Hilltown is amongst the top 10 worst areas in Scotland for crime, poverty, drug abuse, single parenthood, alcohol abuse and unemployment. — Jim Hutchison, Dundee. |
| Dundee on the move |
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| RE THE Tele story about the Swallow Hotels group’s geographically-challenged map of Scotland, I don’t think ‘‘Monifeith’’ is quite so far from its rightful place as Ed Oswald suggests.
Unless, that is, you look at it in terms of distance from Dundee, which appears to have deserted the Tay for the Forth, snuggling in just across the water from Edinburgh, well south of Kirkcaldy. — Confused Traveller, Fife.
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| More deaths on road |
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| LETTER WRITER McK, in suggesting we need even more speed cameras, sounds like the doctor whose prescription has failed. In desperation, he can only suggest increasing the dose.
The Speed Camera Partnership was supposed to reduce road deaths in Tayside. Instead the death figures are not just increasing — they’re multiplying.
Last year, in just six weeks, more people were killed on the roads in Dundee than in whole years before speed cameras.
I don’t speed, McK, nor have I ever been caught by a speed camera, so this is not the basis behind my opposition to cameras. I just don’t like the hugely increased chance of being killed on our roads. — Eamon Scott, Tayside Co-ordinator, The Association of British Drivers, Dundee. |
| Three-day break |
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| WHY, OH WHY, do we have Dundee children getting three days off school at mid-term?
This is not convenient for working mums.
It is not that long since they returned to school after the Christmas holidays.
Children return to school after the Spring holiday on Easter Monday. Why did the council not just give them an extra day on that Monday? — Mrs E. Sandeman, Balunie Drive, Dundee.
[A Dundee City Council spokesman said, “School holidays are set following widespread consultation with education staff, trade unions and School Boards as representatives of parents.
“Their consensus view was to adopt the holidays that were then agreed by the Education Committee in December 2004.”]
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| Tell us more please |
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| I HAVE been reading with interest the letters on old Happyhillock in Dundee. I do hope that the Golden Oldies let us know their findings when they do their research at the archives in the Wellgate.
It really is good to hear about old Dundee, especially places with which you are familiar.
I never knew Happyhillock had so much history.
And I was also fascinated to read the bit about “Maggie’s Shop” on the Forfar Road at the corner of Fountainbleu Drive. Who would have thought there was ever a shop there? — Auld Dundee.
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| Break silence |
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| PUBLIC UTTERANCES from our parliamentary representatives in Dundee West on any issue are as rare as hens’ teeth. Most members of the public could be forgiven for not having a clue who they are (Jim McGovern, UK, and Kate Maclean, Scottish, for the record).
I invite them to break their silence on the privatisation of leisure services in the city. — About-To-Be-Privatised.
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| Laws for protection |
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| I SHARE M. Fraser’s opposition to R. E. Listic’s opinion on bullying. It is irreconcilable with Christian values. Most democracies have laws to protect the victims of bullies. — Robin Ball, Morgan Street, Dundee.
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| Abandon permits |
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| I THINK the parking permits in Dundee’s Menzieshill should be done away with. What is the point in having a permit when you can only park in certain spaces?
I was told some spaces are for two hours only, even if you have a permit, as other people need to be able to park in the area even though you are a resident. The council should either sort this out or do away with it, as it is a shambles. — Raging Resident.
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| Muslim school |
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| I REFER to the Muslim school closing in Dundee and the allegations of racism.
If the inspector(s) were indeed racist, would they not simply have allowed the school to remain open, therefore denying the children a good education? — David McGuire, Balmullo.
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| Whale rescue efforts applauded |
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| I APPLAUD the efforts of those who tried in vain to save the whale in the Thames. It is a refreshing contrast to the cruelty normally reserved for these beautiful creatures by Norway and Japan.
This was £50,000 well spent, even if the outcome was heart wrenching. — D. Murray.
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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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