Waste site would tarnish town's improvements

THE placing of a waste transfer facility on the old Freightliner Terminal site in Portobello would have a detrimental effect on an area that has in recent years seen many council initiatives aimed at improvement of the area.

Examples of this are the town centre improvement scheme, the shop front improvement scheme, the town scheme improvement grants and the Portobello Masterplan.

The latter proposes building a whole new residential area next to Sir Harry Lauder Road – the same road that the hundreds of HGVs would drive along should the transfer site be placed there.

Latest figures show that many Edinburgh streets are failing to meet European air quality targets.

Nobody, I am sure, wants to see the Portobello area added to that list but if this development goes ahead we are likely to do so.

Already people who have wished to move to the area have decided against it because of the possibility of the waste transfer site being built.

It would be tragic if planning blight should further afflict an area which has been the focus of so many council improvement initiatives.

FI and PK Wraith, East Brighton Crescent, Portobello, Edinburgh


Wilderness awaits 'listening' Labour

YOU report Cabinet Minister John Denham calling on Labour to admit errors and reconnect with voters to regain their faith as the party's position in the polls has descended to a well deserved, all time low (Evening News, May 9).

So, can we expect the first Labour government to lead us into what UN Secretary General described as an "illegal war", to apologise and begin without delay the phased withdrawal of our deployed troops that we have long cried out for?

Can we also expect this Labour government to return to its roots based in individual freedom, and withdraw its policies of political intrusiveness – particularly its hugely expensive and insecure ID card plans with attendant nanny state individual information gathering – and its extension of summary detention without trial which would not be out of place in a totalitarian state?

Will Mr Denham's plea extend to the cessation of raiding pension funds and repeal of the unprecedented stealth taxes our allegedly "best ever Chancellor", now Prime Minister, has inflicted on us all?

Will Labour's new-found zeal to "listen" extend to putting right all of the wrongs imposed on us by its New Labour dogma, ideologically more firmly rooted further to the right than the Conservatives?

Labour's already been reduced to also-rans in Scotland because it forgot who it was supposed to be representing – the electorate. Do Labour want the same thing to happen in England – "40 years in the wilderness" beckoning?

Jim Taylor, The Murrays Brae, Edinburgh


Look after these gardens properly

IT is with disgust and disappointment that I am writing to complain about the state of the gardens in Coates Crescent. As a council tax payer and citizen I am at a loss as to why the gardens cannot be kept free of weeds and grass cut. I would hate to think what visitors to Edinburgh must think of this and many other poorly kept gardens and streets.

I would rather our money be spent maintaining our roads and park areas instead of being wasted on the unnecessary tram system.

Nancy McKenzie, Braehead Crescent, Edinburgh


Pool visits sunk by chatting swimmers

I USUALLY take a swim at the Victoria pool around 7-7.30am each morning and at 9 at the weekends. The pool at the times of day I go, is set out with two lanes and a general pool. The lanes are inevitably quite busy.

I am not a fast swimmer so I prefer to swim in the general area.

There would be plenty of room for all swimmers in the general area if it were not for the practice of groups of friends preferring to swim side by side in pairs, threesomes and sometimes four abreast. They seem to do so they are able to chat to each other while they swim and of course will swim as slow as the slowest member of the group.

Often there may be at least two groups of people doing this, which means they are effectively blocking off the section of the pool length they are using.

Also, there are a group of senior men who continually swim abreast, often just walking who, will chat very loudly and swearing in every sentence. Every time I have attempted to swim the length of space they have carved out for themselves they make no attempt to move to avoid me, and I am left swimming around them.

I have talked with the lifeguards about this aggressive practice, and while they reluctantly admitted it was a problem and I had not been the first to complain about this, there was little they could do.

One very easy solution would be to make it all lanes at this time of the morning – a time when working people want some serious exercise before they go to work.

I remember from my youth that there was always a list of swimming etiquette rules posted up in public baths – no bombing, no petting etc. Perhaps these could be re-introduced along with no hogging large sections of the pool by group swimming.

If these people wish to have a chat there are plenty of cafes in the area for that – swimming pools are for people who wish to swim.

Robbie Bushe, Wellington Place, Leith


Scotland stronger within the Union

THE recent events with Wendy Alexander calling for an immediate referendum on the Union have really highlighted the importance of Scotland staying part of the United Kingdom. The Calman Commission should be allowed to complete its work unhindered.

With something so important as Scotland's place in the United Kingdom, I firmly believe that this should not be used for tactical political games. Scotland and the United Kingdom are much stronger together.

Dr Neil Hudson, Mentone Gardens, Edinburgh