A sunny Sunday shopping in Dundee city centre was spoiled by the refuse in the streets, bottles, soiled nappies, fruit and paper overflowing and lying on the ground from the black bins waiting to be emptied. Flocks of birds pecking open the bags — spreading the contents all over the street, what a mess.
Did I see a member of the refuse department going through the streets? Yes, but only a lorry picking up shop packaging and they left countless paper and plastic bags blowing in the street.
On the other hand, did I see many traffic wardens? I must have spotted six or seven in total, maybe more. The council seems to have plenty money to pay these “essential workers” to work Sunday overtime. Typical of the way of life today — councils only have money if it’s to make money. — Westender, Dundee.
Wheelchair taxi query
A questionnaire has been sent out by the support services of Dundee City Council to obtain the view of the public on whether there should be a change to the present limit of 580 taxis in the city.
Of these 580, 198 are wheelchair accessible. I have some questions for the council.
When a person applies to put a wheelchair accessible vehicle on the road as a taxi, does Dundee City Council take into consideration the health, build and strength of the person who will be driving the vehicle?
Are there any medicals required for the applicant to prove the driver will be physically capable of pushing a 14-stone person over a distance of roughly six feet, up an incline at about 25 degrees, into the rear of a wheelchair accessible taxi?
Are there any weight limits set for wheelchair-bound people requiring such a vehicle?
If there are limits, what are they and were they set by the Health and Safety Executive or by the council?
When is a person in a wheelchair the responsibility of the taxi driver? In the cab, or getting to and from the taxi?
I ask these questions because I feel it is only a matter of time before there is an incident involving a wheelchair-bound passenger, possibly due to the taxi driver not being physically strong enough to manoeuvre a wheelchair. — Charon.
[A Dundee City Council spokesman said, “All taxi drivers have to pass a medical and it is a condition of their licence that they provide such help as they are able to give to elderly, infirm or disabled passengers. The council has not set weight limits as these will, to a certain extent, be determined by the type of vehicle, ramps etc.]
Scottish enterprise
A recent report in the Tele stated that Scottish Enterprise had revealed it will be taking legal action to evict a group of travelling people currently encamped on “land the agency owns in Dundee.”
Everyone knows Scottish Enterprise is an unelected quango, subsidised with £millions of taxpayers’ money. However, I was surprised to learn from your report that they also own vast tracts of land. I previously thought the land mentioned in your report was public land owned by Dundee City Council. Could the Tele please give us an insight into how much land in Dundee is owned by SET, where this land is, and how they acquired it? — Canawa.
[A spokesperson for Scottish Enterprise said, “Scottish Enterprise aims to create the right conditions for Scottish companies to grow by providing access to property, markets and finance. As such it has invested in a number of physical infrastructure and property sites across Scotland. For more information about our work, contact our local office in Dundee, visit the website www.scottish-enterprise.com or phone 0845 6078787.” ]
Ambassadors are credit to Dundee
James McDonald (left) with fellow ambassadors Dave Barrie and George Murphy.
AS the manager of a store which has been targeted twice in the past week by shoplifters, I’d like to pay tribute to the Dundee City Council City Centre Ambassadors.
James McDonald and his colleagues quickly identified the individuals concerned from CCTV footage and this information was relayed to the police.
By helping stores identify habitual shoplifters, these guys do a brilliant job in making the city centre a better place for shoppers and traders alike. — Andrew Gold, The Celtic Collection, Seagate, Dundee.
Police associations
Instead of crime prevention and detection, what they are paid to do, Strathclyde Police is to establish a Muslim Police Association.
I understand there is already one for black police officers. How racist is that? So how about having them for Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Hindu police officers or even for left-handed ones? — George Aimer, Kinghorne Rd, Dundee.
Who’s the Tory?
David Cameron lives in a £1 million terraced house — Tony Blair is to occupy a £4 million mansion and owns a handsome portfolio of other plush properties.
The question is this.
Assuming you had no prior knowledge of this titanic twosome’s status or political posturings, which would you say was the Tory? — J. I. Matthew.
Bus worries
I am writing to ask why there is no bus from Charleston Drive to Lochee.
Not everyone has a car and also a lot of older people cannot walk far. — Marion Bathgate.
More ice cream debate
I used to work in Frankie Davie’s Ice Cream Parlour in the 80s.
A squasher was two wafers with ice cream and a snowball. There was also an oyster, which was an oyster-shaped wafer with mallow inside and a scoop of ice cream.
A sponge ice cream was two sponge biscuit-style circles with a scoop of ice cream.
A slider was two wafers with ice cream and a flake in the middle.
A wafer was just two wafers with ice cream, but my favourite was a nougat wafer.
The ice cream recipe was so top secret, the mix was made at home, then brought to the shop to be churned. Unfortunately no family members wanted to carry on with the recipe, so it is lost forever. — Laura Small, Broughty Ferry.
Café memory
In answer to A. MacAroon’s question, a squasher was a slider containing a suitable dented snowball to fit the contours of the mouth.
They had to be handled with care.
I remember in my childhood days there was a café in Constitution Street at the corner of Dens Road.
The owner was Mr Ianetta who served dishes of ice cream with a helping of raspberry fruit sauce on top. — R. F. Broughty Ferry.
Between wafers
A squasher consisted of ice cream and a snowball (big round cream filled chocolate macaroon) between two wafers. — Elizabeth Paul.
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