Readers' letters: Roadworks disrupt Queensferry life

Do Edinburgh's councillors and contractors know how disruptive Queensferry's cosmetic roadworks have been for residents?

All of Queensferry's older pavement is to be ripped up under a controversial makeover plan

Heavy pneumatic drilling has re-commenced after a short lull, the angle-grinders have been constant and the job has now taken eight months with the end still far from sight.

We are told the High Street is to have all of its serviceable pavements ripped up and another lengthy period of torture and noise for residents is planned for next year.

The response from Cllr Kevin Lang is as follows: "The previous surfacing was something in the region of 30+ years old and was nearing the end of its expected life".

In fact, the paving is serviceable and shows no serious signs of wear. If the cobbled roadway setts must be replaced, then the heavy vehicles which damaged them must be banned from the new surface. It is far too easy for councillors not living on the High Street or The Loan to make decisions for those of us who do.

The council's stated objective of redesigning "places for people" to ease congestion is being used as an excuse to throw away £1m on cosmetic fripperies at a time when communities are facing a cost of living crisis and could well use enhanced benefits from the council - not fancy paving stones.

Bruce Whitehead, South Queensferry.

It’s time to put an end to fuel poverty

Last week the CEO of Scottish Power Keith Anderson stated that come October, when domestic fuel prices are set to rise by £900, people in Scotland earning the average wage would drop into fuel poverty (defined as spending 10 per cent of one’s income on domestic fuel).

Considering that most families earn less than the average wage the majority of households will struggle to pay their gas and electricity bills this coming winter.

In any society this would be brutal. In an energy rich country like ours it is a national scandal.

For the last five months the Scottish Socialist Party has campaigned on the streets of Edinburgh for the governments at both Westminster and Holyrood to alleviate this problem.

Among other things the SSP calls for free upgrading of domestic insulation - draught-proof doors and windows, etc. so that people use less gas and electricity to start with - and free replacement of inefficient gas boilers.

In 2011 the SNP govern-ment vowed to abolish fuel poverty. Ten winters later we're still waiting.

Michael Davidson, Edinburgh.

Difference in price of energy contracts

Leah Gunn Barrett boasts that Scotland has enough renewable electricity for its own needs (Letters 16 May).

However, frequently the wind often does not blow and the sun does not shine.

She does not disclose that turbine owners in Scotland received over £1 billion in constraint payments but the English electricity users had to pay 90 per cent.

Wind farms, mostly owned by foreign investors, either under construction or newly completed in the North Sea, agreed to sell power to the grid at low fixed prices under the government's "Contracts for Difference" (CfD) scheme.

However, new wind farms are delaying taking up their CfDs because they can earn much higher prices on the open market.

Moray East announced that it was delaying taking up its CfD contract until 2023 so UK electricity consumers will potentially have to pay an extra £500m in its first 12 months of operations. But since CfD contracts allow delays of up to three years it could turn out to be £1.5bn.

If the English found out, they would be seeking independence from Scotland!

Clark Cross, Linlithgow.

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