Your letters to the Helensburgh Advertiser: June 29, 2017

To have your say on any local issue, email editorial@helensburghadvertiser.co.uk (300 words max) - we'll publish the best contributions in the next print edition of the Advertiser. Happy writing!

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As a local resident, it was a pleasure to watch many Hermitage Primary children making their way to their leavers’ party this week, all looking very excited and dressed in their finery.

I must, however, express concern over some means of transport.

Chauffeur driven vintage cars, stretch limousines and high end sports cars all featured, one of which drew out in front of me at high speed – in a school zone!

There appeared to be a huge photographic opportunity for the cars and their occupants. Some arriving children looked cold and bemused.

Has anyone given a thought towards the numerous good parents who cannot afford such a luxury but make sure their children are dropped off safe and sound, whether by public transport, the family car, works van or on foot?

Yvonne Macfarlane, via email

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Once again the community council would like to thank most sincerely all those volunteers who came along last Saturday and braved very gusty conditions to continue the process of beach cleaning.

All visible rubbish was picked up and the esplanade was weeded to the monument.

We are examining procedures for removing the decayed algae, but the area looks much more presentable.

We also thank the Blackhill staff for their continued support with the provision of material and the removal of the collected rubbish.

The next beach clean is scheduled for July 29 at the usual time of 10am.

Norman Muir, HCC convener

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The recent passing by Holyrood of legislation establishing a new tax to replace air passenger duty in Scotland is to be welcomed.

The Bill to create air departure tax (ADT), which will now come into force from April 2018, paves the way for the Scottish Government to fulfil its commitment to cut the levy in half by the end of this Parliament, ahead of abolishing the charge altogether “when resources allow”.

UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) is the most expensive tax of its kind in Europe and profoundly impacts on Scotland, acting as a barrier to our ability to secure new direct international services and to maintain existing ones. Attracting investment is now more crucial than ever as we embark on Brexit negotiations.

The reduction and ultimate abolition of APD in Scotland will have two key impacts – first, some international routes which are currently marginal and therefore not flown are likely to become viable.

Secondly, there is likely to be a price reduction for the consumer on domestic flying and the real possibility of additional frequencies.

Research indicates that halving APD will create nearly 4,000 jobs and add £200 million a year to the Scottish economy by 2020.

Without action, Scotland could lose out on nearly one million passengers every year, costing the Scottish economy up to £68 million in lost tourism revenue every year.

APD is a tax on Scotland’s ability to compete with the rest of Europe, and our economy is footing the bill in lost jobs and lost opportunities.

Addressing this will provide key advantages for both passengers and the Scottish economy.

Alex Orr, via email

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I WISH to write in response to the letter submitted by Stuart Coleman (Advertiser, June 22) regarding Tim Farron and the greater issue of the LGBT community.

First of all, blaming political correctness for Tim Farron’s own decision is laughable and lacks any concrete evidence to actually pin anything like this to be the case.

Secondly, you conflate that marriage is “a legal union...offspring” and that it is a “millennia-old institution.” That is an oversimplification.

Marriage may have become this around the Middle Ages but certainly was not wholly this, nor is that a universal trait.

For the lower classes, marriage was a very informal affair and still is in large sections of the world.

Certainly in traditional pagan beliefs, hand-fastening ceremonies have been for any gender and I would suggest that pagan beliefs far outweigh any “tradition” leverage the Christian church has.

Marriage is certainly not a precursor for children – many marriages throughout time were purely for social climbing – and supposing so is an insult to anyone who cannot have children or those who do and do not fit into your world view.

Finally, do not try and say you hold nothing against us.

We are not stupid and there is nothing in anything you have said that indicates you champion anything we stand for.

Instead, you complained over the meaning of a word and quoted the Bible.

Perhaps you should read Deuteronomy 22:28-29 in which it describes how much a rape victim can be sold to her rapist. Will you also champion? Shouldn’t you also be changing your definition between one man and one woman since the Bible is simply littered with concubines and multiple wives?

Or is it only the parts you find personally convenient to your world view that you will throw at us?

Stephanie Millar, via email

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The school summer holiday is a time children look forward to all year; a time for them to relax, enjoy the outdoors and get stuck into their favourite hobbies. It’s easy to see how routines can go out of the window once summer hits, which is why Asthma UK are launching a campaign urging parents to maintain their child’s usual preventer medicine routine over the school break. This will help to protect their child from an asthma attack both during the summer holiday and once they go back to school.

Every 10 seconds someone has a potentially life-threatening asthma attack in the UK, and three people die from an asthma attack every day. In September, children are nearly three times more likely to be admitted to hospital because of an asthma attack than in August, partly due to seasonal triggers such as cold and flu viruses. If a child hasn’t kept up their preventer medicine routine over the school holidays, they will be at greater risk of reacting to these triggers.

The good news is that by taking a few simple steps over the summer holiday, parents can keep children as well as possible and reduce the risk of this happening:

Keep up your child’s usual preventer medicine routine (usually a brown inhaler); make sure your child has an up to date written asthma action plan and share this with any other carers (people with asthma are four times more likely to end up in hospital for their asthma if they don’t use one); track your child’s asthma symptoms using a diary or a symptom calendar; and prepare for going back to school by arranging an asthma review to check your child’s medicines, and by making sure your child has spare, in-date reliever inhalers to take into school.

Parents who have any concerns about their child’s asthma can speak to our team of expert nurses on 0300 222 5800 (Mon-Fri; 9am-5pm), and can download a child’s asthma action plan by visiting www.asthma.org.uk/advice/safer-school-holidays.

Sonia Munde, Asthma UK

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Right now in Scotland there are 396 people currently waiting for a kidney transplant, and every single day in the UK one person will die whilst waiting for their kidney.

This has to change.

Most people don’t want to think about their kidneys, but the reality is that one in eight people will develop chronic kidney disease which can affect their general health and may ultimately mean they might need dialysis or a transplant in order to stay alive.

The average time waiting for a kidney on the transplant list is three years and there are almost 30,000 people on dialysis in the UK, a treatment that leaves patients hooked up to machines for hours at a time for several days every week, which has a knock-on impact on their ability to study, work, socialise and ultimately live their lives to the full.

Kidney patients constantly tell us that greater awareness of kidney disease and the impact it can have would be life-changing for them, which is why we’re calling on your readers to become kidney aware by visiting www.kidneycareuk.org.

Ewan Maclean, Kidney Care UK

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As the Brexit talks start in earnest, it is time for the government to indicate how it intends to proceed with legalising imperial measures to once again allow traders to sell apples by the pound and petrol by the gallon if they wish.

For many of us, getting rid of compulsory metrication was the main reason for voting to leave the EU. It would be a disgrace if metric fetishists in the civil service were allowed to obstruct this noble aim leaving us only with the negative aspects of Brexit!

John Eoin Douglas, via email