Your latest letters to the Advertiser

To have your say on any local issue email editorial@helensburghadvertiser.co.uk along with your name and address - we'll publish the best next week!

* * * * * * * *

RUTH Wishart, in her snipe at Cardross ‘NIMBYs' (Helensburgh Advertiser, October 20), has joined the ranks of those other supporters of the ‘Houses for Heroes’ planning application who are wilfully missing the point.

The point is, of course, that this issue is not about ‘Houses for Heroes’ at all. It is wholly about the development of a protected part of our village and the destructive manner in which access will be obtained.

It is entirely right that protected status afforded to any location in Scotland, for whatever reason – natural or cultural heritage, SSSI, scenic value or architectural importance – should be defended, as these safeguards preserve and enhance the quality of our environment. 

The applicant, in my view, has resorted to using ‘Houses for Heroes’ as a lever to gain access for more extensive development, and any doubts about this should be cast aside when one questions why a ten-metre wide access gap in a wall should be considered necessary for only two houses. 

The applicant does not live in Cardross, and neither do many supporters, including Ruth Wishart, and I would have thought that the opinion of those of us who live here should be respected without sneers from elsewhere.

The views of local disabled people in particular should be listened to, as they have been highly critical about the suitability of this site for anyone with a disability, whether ex-service personnel or civilians.

Bob Murray, 6 Napier Avenue, Cardross

* * * * * * * *

BEING a fan of Ruth Wishart, I was interested to see that her opinion piece on 'The Great Wall of Cardross' (Thursday, October 20) did not let the facts stand in the way of a good story.

Argyll and Bute spent a considerable amount of time and effort preparing the Local Plan for Cardross.

One consultation meeting was attended by more than 100 locals.

The Reporter in Edinburgh modified the council’s proposal and produced a Local Plan to be adopted by the council.

The plan proposed 120 houses on a site in Cardross. These houses could have included homes for war veterans, but to my knowledge, no veterans' charity has pursued this option.

There have been a number of planning applications to build houses on the Bloomhill site.

One application was for 20 houses, with no reference to war veterans. This was rejected by the Council in an attempt to protect the Green Belt.

The next application was for three 'war veteran' houses. Again, the application was rejected by the council.

The most recent application was for two 'war veteran' houses. Yet again, the application was rejected by the council.

Is this about building Houses for Heroes, or is it just about building houses? Perhaps Ruth Wishart knows. 

Duncan Stirling, Church Avenue, Cardross

* * * * * * * *

ACCORDING to Ruth Wishart (Advertiser, October 20), I must be a ‘NIMBY’. Her suggestion being that if anyone does not agree with the planning application for ‘Houses for Heroes’ in Cardross, they must therefore have a problem with disability.

She may be interested to know that my late sister suffered from muscular dystrophy and was confined to a wheelchair for a large part of her life of only 28 years. Her disability was simply part of our normal family life.

Ruth Wishart ought to have been able to see this planning application for what it is, instead of making assumptions about people she doesn’t know when setting out to belittle them.

Eileen Murray, 6 Napier Avenue, Cardross

* * * * * * * *

IT is hard to believe that it is only two years ago that the Scottish people voted decisively to stay part of the UK.

What happened to “respect the wishes of the Scottish people” as we are now being dragged back to more division and a second round of constitutional bickering. The focus of the SNP government is entirely on independence and not the well being of Scotland or its services

Over the nine years of SNP government things have deteriorated and services worsened. School attainment gap has widened; our police are in crisis; children have been forced to wait years for mental health treatment and our roads are crumbling.

Meanwhile, the First Minister had her civil servants dusting off her Indyref rule book and have been working all hours to deliver the draft referendum bill.

The Royal College of Nursing has warned that nurses are facing the perfect storm over staffing levels as they struggle under enormous pressure to provide front line services along with GPs, doctors, dentists and other NHS staff.

There has not been a mental health strategy since the end of 2015, but the SNP managed to turn around a referendum bill in weeks.

It is now crystal clear that the SNP’s priority is not education, health, working for the poor or even the protection of the benefits of our EU membership. It is only independence.

It is essential that the First Minister starts to focus on her day job of governing and turn her attention to Scotland and its crisis-laden services.

Ursula Craig, Shore Road, Cove

* * * * * * * *

THE draft bill for a second referendum on Scottish independence shows that Nicola Sturgeon has given up being a First Minister for all of Scotland.

The issue of whether Scotland should leave the UK was settled decisively in 2014.

The people of Scotland said no then and there is no appetite for a second referendum now.

Stoking any further grievance will only generate more economic uncertainty and stifle Scotland's growth.

We Scots need a Scottish Government that is focused on the day job - not one that is obsessed with pushing their ideological agenda at any cost to our country.

The SNP-led government needs to stop this distracting and divisive obsession with separation and respect the sovereign will of the people of Scotland that proudly voted to stay in our United Kingdom.

Alastair Redman, Portnahaven, Islay

* * * * * * * *

I WAS surprised by Tory MP David Davies' sudden interest in the dental care of the few young refugees who are at last being allowed to enter the UK from the Calais "Jungle".

Whilst I'm sure that many of these youngsters would not be averse to a free dental checkup, he should be careful not to be seen to be promoting compulsory dentistry, since Human Rights legislation could well class this as cruel and unusual punishment.

John Eoin Douglas, 7 Spey Terrace, Edinburgh

* * * * * * * *

LAST Thursday was Secondary Breast Cancer Awareness Day (13 October) – 24 hours devoted to shining a spotlight on the final stage of this devastating and common disease.

Almost 1,000 women in the UK die of breast cancer every year and the majority of these deaths are caused by secondary breast cancer, when the disease has spread to other parts of the body. It’s estimated that there are 35,000 people in the UK with secondary breast cancer.

Women living with secondary breast cancer often tell us they feel like a forgotten group. They want more discussion and awareness of the challenges that they face. That’s why we’ve launched our ‘Dear Breast Cancer’ campaign. 

Our amazing supporter Lesley Stephen kick-started the campaign with a powerful letter to her breast cancer tumour. It’s an honest, powerful and thought-provoking account of living with secondary breast cancer.

So how can your readers help?

We want people to read Lesley’s letter on our website and, if they feel inspired, to write about their own experience of secondary breast cancer. Every letter we receive helps us to highlight what it means to have breast cancer or to have lost someone to the disease.

At Breast Cancer Now we spend almost a fifth of our funding on secondary breast cancer research. We’re committed to our aim that by 2050 no one will die of breast cancer, but we can’t do this alone.

Please join us and help to raise the profile of secondary breast cancer. Write your own letter at breastcancernow.org/news-and-blogs/blogs/dear-breast-cancer

Mary Allison, Director for Scotland, Breast Cancer Now

* * * * * * * *

I’M 68 years old and have osteoarthritis. I’m writing to you today to urge readers affected by arthritis to join me in sharing their everyday experiences and support Arthritis Research UK’s new campaign, pushing back the limits of arthritis.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have the loving network of friends and family that I do. I’m confident that whatever life may throw my way, they will be there to support me.  Despite this, the pain and fatigue of arthritis can feel isolating and can attack what it means to live; it affects every aspect of my life. I’ve been living with arthritis for over 5 years now, and some days the pain makes it difficult for me to do something as simple as carrying the washing upstairs.  

Over the years, I’ve picked up little tips and tricks that help me throughout the day. During October and November, the charity Arthritis Research UK is asking people like me to share their experiences of day-to-day living with arthritis in their Share your Everyday campaign. Ten million of us in the UK are living with arthritis, and together we can shape the big ideas and little changes to push back the limits and live the lives we want to.

By sharing my story in this campaign, I hope that I will be able to pass on a bit of wisdom that could help make a real day-to-day difference to other people. With everyone’s support, we can help to make living with arthritis that little bit easier.

Join me and share your everyday experiences of living with arthritis to help Arthritis Research UK find our everyday freedom:www.arthritisresearchuk.org/shareyoureveryday

Nora Boswell, for Arthritis Research UK