Letters: Is there to be no end to the municipal follies that are desecrating our capital?

Letters: Is there to be no end to the municipal follies that are desecrating our capital?

ROSEMARY Goring’s perceptive observations on Edinburgh’s increasing propensity to debase its urban historic character (“Come friendly bombs and fall on Edinburgh (and its new shopping mall)”, The Herald, August 4) invite us to consider how it came about that Unesco could strip Liverpool of its World Heritage Status while the Scottish capital has been woefully over-indulged in its attempts to desecrate its world-class built heritage for more than a quarter of a century.

On a like-for-like comparison Edinburgh’s record is certainly no better, and in some respects much worse, than Liverpool’s. For example, the demolition of several B-listed buildings in St Andrew Square without an Environmental Impact Assessment was a clear breach of European regulations, while the destruction of an original New Town block in West Register Street simply to accommodate an architect’s “vision” was wholly unjustifiable.

Few of us would quibble with the replacement of the brutalist St James Centre with a bland and characterless shopping mall, though the attached “copper spiral” hotel, which is better known locally by it’s scatalogical nickname, is much more disruptive than anything an architect of the 1960s would have dared to propose.

The thing that really takes the breath away, however, is not so much the gross ugliness of the architecture, but the fact that the St James Quarter project received a “regeneration” subsidy of £61.4 million from the Scottish Government in cahoots with Edinburgh City Council. Quite why a US pension corporation with more than $1 trillion assets under management deserved such a magnanimous gift is a point which would be best addressed by a public inquiry, though it’s doubtful we’ll ever see one. The result has been the near-annihilation of Princes Street as a shopping destination.

The erosion of the Scottish capital continues apace, the latest outrages being the council’s determination to impose “refuse stockades” in the streets of the New Town at 50-metre intervals, and the proposal to mess around with George Street. Meanwhile the steamroller over-development of the Southside by Edinburgh University continues apace.

There would appear to be no end to these municipal follies.

David J Black, Edinburgh.

WHAT HAPPENED TO FORGIVENESS?

IN his column today (“Homophobia, the F-slur and why Matt Damon’s critics are the real monsters”, The Herald, August 5), Neil Mackay writes: “To have failed once – to admit a mistake – is enough to have you burned at the stake today. Perfection must be a state of permanence. Your past must be perfect, your present must be perfect and if you falter in the future then welcome to the public gallows.”

He’s spot on, describing perfectly the contemporary trend – largely fuelled by social media – of revelling in bringing people down on account of their “past sins”.

And it matters not if the “target” apologises or not. Kentaro Kobayashi, sacked the day before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo games for a bad-taste comedy routine from 23 years ago, said: “I understand that my choice of words was wrong and I regret it. I am very sorry.” And the cricketer Ollie Robinson, whose sexist and racist tweets from eight years ago were uncovered, said: “I’m embarrassed about the tweets I posted. I deeply regret my actions and am ashamed of such remarks. I was thoughtless and irresponsible and my actions were inexcusable. I would like to unreservedly apologise…”

But apologies aren’t enough. We do condemnation rather than forgiveness and redemption. Kobayashi and Robinson made mistakes. I have too. What about you?

Whatever happened to Amazing Grace?

The Very Reverend Martin Fair, Arbroath.

PETROL IS NOT SO EXPENSIVE

FROM time to time I have done the same calculation as David Crawford (Letters, August 5) regarding the current cost of petrol.

As a youngster in the summer of 1972, I too pumped petrol. I can clearly recall the cost of 4-star petrol (equivalent to the grade sold today) was 37p per gallon, which equates to 8.1p per litre. I was paid 25p an hour for my summer job.

The cost of petrol here today is 132.9p per litre. This indicates the price has increased by a factor of 16.4 over 49 years.

If my 25p per hour wage was increased by the same factor, it would now equate to £4.10 per hour.

However, the minimum wage for 16 and 17-year-olds is currently higher than that at £4.62, which suggests that petrol is more affordable now than it was in 1972 (at least for youngsters).

George Rennie, Inverness.

MEET THE DESCENDANTS

I WAS interested to read about Sylvester Herman (“Meet the rum-maker bringing a taste of Caribbean to the Clyde”, The Herald, August 5). Although the article claims he is 38 years old he must be much older than that since, according to Josh Carmichael, he has direct descendants who were slaves working in a plantation. Or could it be that Mr Carmichael does not know the difference between ancestors and descendants?

Mrs Carol Primrose, Bishopbriggs.

HOW TO FEND OFF THE KISSERS

IF it’s of any help to Alistair Easton (Letters, August 5) in his quest for a harmless deterrent when threatened by social hugging and air kissing from even casual acquaintances, I have found a stage-whispered “no tongues” to be effective.

Persistent offenders should be obliged to sport a warning seaside “Kiss Me Quick” hat and seek like-minded grandstanders.

R Russell Smith, Largs.

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