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Letters - 24 April 2008
Drivers angry and frustrated by roadworks


What makes Dundee City Council decide to have road works on all major roads at the same time? I’m a working mother living in Monifieth. I can’t drop my children off at school any earlier than 8.20am.

Since Monday, I have been late for my work and have lost pay. I think it is ridiculous that every main road has roadworks and the side streets are blocked.

To find out the Kingsway was partly closed was a nightmare. This makes drivers angry and frustrated.

I tried three routes as I work at the other end of the Kingsway and I was so frustrated it ruined my day.

Can we not have at least one road open so that we don’t have road rage every morning. — Angry Motorist.

[Our pictures show a scenes on Kingsway East this week.]

Parking woes
I did chuckle to hear doctors weren’t to meet appointments because they couldn’t get a parking space.

I would like to see me trying that one with my customers — telling them I was late because I couldn’t get a parking space.

I could even try it with a potential employer, telling them sorry for being late for my interview but I couldn’t get a parking space.

Doctors would be the first to either charge you for missing an appointment or leaving you to wait at the back of the queue. Maybe next time one of their patients is late they will have more of an understanding. — Edward Ryce.

Uplift costs
Dundee City Council has increased household items collecting costs to £10. I was told you can have up to six items uplifted for this amount.

As I only had one item I wanted to dispose of I consider £10 a bit much.

Why not charge £2.50 per item? I was under the impression the Council Tax I pay every month met some of these costs. If not, why not?

Every day you read that fly tipping is on the increase. Well, I can understand why. — Disgruntled.

Right idea
Margaret Thatcher had the right idea with the poll tax. All who get an income should contribute to services used.

The only thing she did wrong was not linking it to ability to pay — the more you have coming in, the more you should contribute.

How can one justify a single retired person living in a £200,000 house, paying the same rates as three fully employed individuals living next door? — M.J.K.

Waiting for seven months
Now the Tele has highlighted the fact Dundee City Council doesn’t appear to know how many people are on the housing list, I was wondering if they could find out how many people are on Abertay Housing Association’s waiting list.

I have been waiting for seven months. I am sleeping on my mother’s floor as I have separated from my wife.

I have my seven-year-old son come to stay with me three times a week but now his mother is getting fed up with this arrangement as he, too, has to sleep on the floor.

I have been to see Abertay on numerous occasions.

Please could the Tele help me as it seems you are the only people to get things done. — Homeless.

[A spokesperson from Abertay Housing Association said, “Abertay knows exactly how many applicants we have on our waiting list, it is 2074.

“This figure includes 142 existing tenants waiting for transfers, usually requiring larger homes due to increase in family size.

“We get about 200 voids a year, of these 50% are allocated as nominations to Dundee City Council, therefore we have only about 100 homes per year actually available for let.

“As you will be aware most social landlords in the city allocate homes on the basis of need.

“Therefore homeless applicants are given a higher priority than others and medical conditions also contribute to the assessment of need.

“The basic problem is that there is a housing shortage and we simply cannot meet the needs of everyone requiring a home.”]

Berry picking
The work shy in the Dundee area should be sent berry picking to earn fag and beer money. They would also have the added bonus of becoming fit and healthy.

As a young lad, I went berry picking every year in the Dundee area. — Dave Ramsay, Isle of Wight.

British Malayans
I would be interested to hear from readers who were British Malayans in 1941 and were evacuated as children from Singapore in 1942, or whose parents served in the Malayan Volunteer Forces.

I am a member of the Malayan Volunteers Group, which includes some 160 children of the British Malaya and a few veterans from the Volunteers.

You can check out our website at http://www.malayanvolunteersgroup.org.uk.

We wish to share our experiences of those days, commemorate the ‘forgotten’ Volunteers and raise historical awareness of their role in the Malayan Campaign and Japanese captivity. — Jonathan Moffatt.

Stolen bikes
Has your child brought home a bike recently? Our garden was broken into for the fourth time and three bikes were stolen.

One was a man’s grey racer, one was a child’s black x-rated bike and the other was a child’s bright red and yellow bike.

My children are really upset. — P. Taylor, Garden Mill Place, Dundee 01382 818875.

Wallet found
On Thursday, April 10, my colleague and I found a wallet with money in it in Argos in Dundee’s Overgate Centre. It was handed to staff. — Kath and Joe (01382 833890).
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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