Letters: Take the plunge and give Meadowbank a revamp too

If the imminent opening of the newly refurbished Royal Commonwealth Pool proves to be a big success, perhaps it would be fitting if the council took the plunge and also invested in modernising Meadowbank Sports Centre.

This iconic sporting arena has seen plenty of action down through the years and it could be argued that Edinburgh is in much need of a state-of-the-art sports facility, one which could even be considered for hosting some sort of future international sporting event.

In an age when sport is afforded a very high profile and when people have more leisure time on their hands, Edinburgh cannot afford to lag behind in the race for the prestigious and lucrative rewards that come with being a modern and progressive city which is well worthy of a visit.

Angus McGregor, Albion Road, Edinburgh

Nuclear is one of safest methods

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MARTIN Hannan (‘Let’s rein in the winds of change’, March 13) describes the Windscale fire as “much hushed up”.

Firstly this was not an event at a power station; the primitive reactors were to produce plutonium for military use. Secondly, it was hardly secret: there was unavoidable publicity and public concern.

The other accidents he mentions were at civil nuclear power plants, but in all cases because of either design errors and/or reckless control by the operators. Good design and responsible management of nuclear power stations in the UK has resulted in no accidents, loss of life or danger to the public.

Claiming that nuclear power is not safe implies that other methods of electricity generation are safe. In fact, no such method is inherently safe; all are relatively so but nuclear is one of the safest.

Steuart Campbell, Dovecot Loan, Edinburgh

Tram promotion is running late

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I DON’T suppose Jenny Dawe gets much chance to look around the city centre these days, what with pressure of work and international awards ceremonies to attend (Letters, March 13).

In which case, Councillor Dawe has probably also missed the two misleading adverts for Edinburgh trams currently on prominent display in St Andrew Square.

On the north side, there’s a large promotional panel for the trams (just next to the “Deep Excavations” on North St Andrew Street).

On the south side, there are giant posters lining the doors and windows of empty commercial premises. In both places, the trams are advertised as running all the way to Ocean Terminal and beyond, to Newhaven.

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Apart being plain wrong, the sight of this cheerfully misleading promotional material – almost a year after the single line was dramatically truncated – must be pretty sickening to any passer-by from, let’s say, Leith Walk.

Or is it simply there, like the award for “Best European Large City of the Future” that Ms Dawe tells us she’s just collected, to reflect the council’s “aspirations” rather than the increasingly tacky reality?

David Jackson Young, India Street, Edinburgh

Sympathy for the toothless tiger

RECENT figures showing Ireland has double the unemployment of the UK should once and for all end the nonsense talked about the Celtic Tiger.

Ridiculously low business taxes and very high personal taxes have been a disaster for the people of Ireland – who are emigrating in their thousands. For the Scottish politicians who trumpeted this mad experiment, it is time they apologised for getting it so badly wrong. If the politicians could just admit that copying Ireland’s false boom would have been disastrous for Scots then we might all sleep a bit easier in our beds.

Dave Cochrane, Spottiswoode Street, Edinburgh

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