I was angered to read that Dundee City Council administration leader Kevin Keenan cannot guarantee that the Council Tax for next year will be frozen.
The levels that we are currently paying are over the odds compared to our Euro cousins in countries like Spain, France and Italy.
I have a three-bedroomed semi-detached house and pay nearly £1600 per annum (including water rates).
A similar house on the continent would be paying £300 — £400 per annum.
We are already paying high Council Tax and now there is the possibility that it will go up further next year. In these difficult economic times, it is not what people want to hear.
Is it because our council is historically one of the most over-staffed councils in Scotland, and have a strict no redundancy policy?
While every business/organisation is trimming staff during the credit crunch, our council would not even consider that option.
It is high time that our council had a serious look at staffing levels in an effort to reduce the crippling levels of Council Tax. — Ripped Off.
Footing bill for roadworks
The roadworks on South Road, Lochee.
I note that South Road, Lochee, is undergoing a major transformation, i.e. road widening. Why?
The work is a major undertaking and must be costing a fair bit of money.
If the reason for this is because of the building of a Tesco Extra supermarket on the South Road, Lochee, I hope that the Tesco company is footing the bill.
Could the Tele find out who is funding these road changes?
I hope it is not Joe Public. — M. Souter, West End.
[A Dundee City Council spokesman said, “The road works referred to on South Road include road widening and the formation of a new traffic-light controlled junction.
“These road works are being carried as part of the development of the new Tesco store on South Road.
“All of the road works are being carried out on behalf of Tesco and funded by them.”]
Give folks a chance to celebrate
In response to “Nothing to Celebrate” I agree that the question of a Hogmany celebration is something Dundee City Council seem to be avoiding.
Perhaps they are scared that the logistics of such events will cause problems with drunken violence, litter and vandalism.
However, I don’t believe that the people of Dundee are any more dangerous than those of Stirling, Edinburgh or Glasgow and as such should be given the chance to celebrate as a city on this traditional day.
There are a great many foreign students who travel to Dundee hearing about the “Great Scottish Hogmanay”. They must wonder what the fuss is all about. — Thumbs Up.
Has investment really helped education?
When I went to school in the 1950s and 60s it was to a school building that was 150 years old.
There was no PPP back then. The classrooms had rusty old radiators and ancient desks with carvings on them from long since gone students.
School dinners were not exactly gourmet treats. Teachers were as hard as nails. You were made to do gym in your bare feet if you dared to “forget” your shoes.
But when we left we could all count, and spell quite well (I got a tanner every week at primary for spelling) and we were reasonably well behaved.
When I went to secondary school there were no school technicians, no classroom assistants, no school helpers. The teacher did it all.
Lets look at things of the last 25 years. We have just spent £85 million on schools, millions on factories that lie empty and nothing on houses.
The cost of classroom assistants who are there to allow teachers a better shot at “teaching” runs into millions.
On looking at attainment statistics, you have to ask if all the investment is having any impact. — Dundee Reader.
Union benefits?
A recent letter writer proclaimed that Gordon Brown borrowing £100 billion of taxpayers’ money shows the benefits of the Union.
Saddling hard-pressed taxpayers with other people’s debts hardly seems prudent to me.
However, small nations such as Norway and Ireland have done more than the UK to protect their citizens in the current crisis and neither has seen banks go under or require nationalisation, unlike the US or UK. — The Watchman.
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