YOUR VIEWS: Friendly faces of vital services are being lost locally
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In an age where online sites wish us to respond to customer service feedback requests before they’ve even done anything of note I thought I’d raise a few local service issues we’ve seen unfold recently locally.
They have been claims by Highland Council’s education bureaucrats that teachers are the problem in primary school attainment results.
How sad indeed. Is this merely an attempt to get teachers to leave the profession without any compensation or just very sloppy PR, leadership and inverse motivation speak?
Seemingly deeming staff as not fit for purpose is shocking.
Elsewhere I see Aldi has resorted to the ‘DIY free slave labour’ at the vast majority of their check-outs at their outlet in Aviemore.
We now have to unpack, be responsible for scanning items properly and then repacking them in the space provided.
I’m sure Aldi used to train their staff to do this for shoppers.
How on earth are folk who are doing weekly, fortnightly or otherwise large shops supposed to use this miserably sized area where their scanned items are deposited?
It is also rather ironic given there are also usually posters on their store walls beyond the tills asking customers to fund exotic Marathon runs across the globe in the name of raising funds for young and well meaning folk.
The messaging appears headed in the wrong direction.
I’d not be surprised if Aldi’s own staff monitoring the clients doing their co-opted labour feel a sense of discomfort.
The more mature clients I’ve spoken to in the old fashioned Till Two queue and their responses echoes a sense of anger at what we’ve been dealt without any consultation.
Did Aldi ask us if we wanted this, or was it the bean counters they asked?
Perhaps a discount of say 2.5 per cent on our purchases could convince folk to continue this present unpopular system.
In the absence of such a deal I’m sure most folk would prefer a smarter solution at the tills, certainly not when it almost feels like we’re being watched as suspects.
Tesco handles the mix between DIY or unpaid labour and store staff doing what they always done at supermarket tills way better. The self-service tills work for few items of shopping but the approach at Aldi is rather ‘iffy’ to be honest.
Home Bargains appears to handle the issues regarding using staff at the tills with a lot more practical based good sense.
Come on Aldi, you can do way better than this!
Do you really see us as yours to use like this? Kindly get your act together.
All this is against the background of the last bank in the strath about to join those branches which have been axed locally.
We get the distinct impression head office bean counters find their remote clients a bane and nuisance – all the while heading for a client-free future sans real life empathetic staff.
I’d imagine businesses in Aviemore and the wider strath won’t exactly be over the moon about there being no bank in Aviemore from late Spring.
And will the Post Office in its wonderful efforts be overwhelmed by sheer numbers after this loss of local service at the Bank of Scotland?
Thank goodness the banks at least haven’t opted for Japanese software solutions or we’d see another Fujitsu software myth destroy well meaning folk.
I’ve thrown some issues out here encouraged by unhappy responses I’ve had when discussing the state of Aviemore with fellow residents. What do local folks make of these changes and do you find them acceptable or not?
Paul Aarden
Aviemore.
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Referendum needed on being part of Cairngorms National Park
The recent first round of the new national parks debate in Scotland has really opened up serious division with what seems like the rural economy based people, very much against, and the tourism sector mostly in favour.
I know that is a generalisation but how on earth can a new national park succeed without the support of the people that actually manage the land ?
I fear that the SNP and Greens have shot themselves in the foot by insisting on progressing to the second round despite this division.
I know I will be changing my allegiances based on the way this has been handled and they will lose a lot of ground in the next election.
At least the people of Skye and Ross-shire can breath a sigh of relief, because sense was seen, and their bids removed because proper support could not be proven. I fail to see in the other areas how it has been truly proven as support is definitely divided.
So they will go to Stage 2 and I am quite sure the outcome will be no area really wants to be a park, certainly not Tay, Loch Awe or Lochaber, and money that could have been spent on something more pressing will be wasted.
The whole idea of a new national park leveraging more money just means other areas get less.
Also what is really galling to me is the way the existing park officers keep trumpeting out the same positive propaganda about what a great job they are doing and how beneficial it is to live in a national park.
A recent local poll on an Aviemore-based community forum on social media asking how satisfied people were with the Cairngorms National Park after 20 years, had almost 500 responses, and only three per cent thought the park was working well for communities.
The existing national parks need to be sorted before any new ones are created.
Rather than responding to news and media with responses about how good they are, the existing national park authorities would do well to find out why people are not satisfied and try and sort that first.
Twenty years ago we were told our cultural heritage or way of life would be preserved; we are now told it is not a priority.
Foolishly most of us thought things like visitor facilities would improve such as toilets and litter provisions but they have got worse.
Glaring examples for farming and crofting right now are:
• The CNPA is ‘leveraging’ close to £43m from Lottery funding (public money) for their Heritage Horizons Project. They sing the praises of the Future Farming project which is part of it.
But 98.7 per cent of the farming community know nothing about it and worse it will only will benefit about 1.3per cent of farms and these units were chosen behind closed doors. Of the total HH budget it is only 1.7 per cent I think that will come to farming.
• Permitted development rights for farmers are considerably poorer in the national park, putting them at a severe disadvantage to those outside.
For example a farm shed in the park can require full planning with the substantial additional planning costs and significant delays based on experience in the park.
• The unforgivable smoke screen around the beaver consultation that they still keep putting out instead of looking at why they upset almost all land managers.
Instead of doing a box ticking exercise and hoping farmers would turn up to an event in a hotel in the very short 43 day ‘consultation’ period for a decision that had already been made.
Instead the CNPA agricultural officer could have contacted every single land manager over the period and achieved virtually 100 per cent engagement with those that matter.
My question now for Scottish Ministers is: can we have a referendum to see if we still want to remain as a national park?
Ruaridh Ormiston
Kingussie.
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Success story that must be preserved
The holiday home in Badenoch and Strathspey is one of our great success stories.
Predominantly small business owners offering something individual and unique as family holiday for our fellow Scots and for those further afield that tens of thousands choose every year boosting our local economy
Holiday home is the opposite of all inclusive – we offer only accommodation, the rest of what the tourist requires is offered by the local cheese shop, wine bar, artisan baker , local butcher , bar , restaurant, bike hire, photography, guides, etc.
The growth in this sector has turned many rarely used second homes simply not suitable properties for ‘affordable housing’ or worker accommodation into high occupancy tourist choice property who in turn spend money in local business, tourist attractions, etc.
Now that the local authority has a register, can ensure all properties are safe, has licensing with powers to curb any property or licensee allowing undue unruly behaviour, now that we are a control zone and any new properties to be changed use to add to this pool have to obtain planning, face stringent rules to ensure the property is not one that is robbing affordable housing stock – it’s time to move on.
The Government that has the power to introduce retrospective planning prior to control zone chose not to do so.
To do so would have been draconian – destroying people’s businesses, people’s livelihoods, the retiree who invested with a legitimate expectation to obtain a return, the single mother using as sole or top up income (70 per cent of hosts are women).
Let’s make sure our council does not bring in ‘retrospective’ by the back door – allow existing operators to obtain licensing and let’s move on together and celebrate this fantastic success story of holiday home.
Gordon Thomson
Kingussie.
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Rise of pylons is creating eyesore
The continuing protests against Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks’ proposed installation of very many extra pylons intended to distribute electric power from wind turbines are very fully justified.
On and offshore windpower are not green, reliable or economical.
They benefit significantly only those making money from the climate gravy train.
Scotland’s great natural advantages in attracting tourism are being seriously damaged by pushers of dodgy renewables.
If and when those in charge of getting reliable, adequate electric power to the Scots people come to recognise the limitations of wind-powered generation, they would, albeit reluctantly, seek more-realistic policies.
That’s not easy but the answers are definitely not blowing in the wind.
Charles Wardrop
Perth.
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The right to demonstrate underpins democracy
Clark Cross writes that various ‘eco-groups’ are pointless and cowardly; that ‘All eco-demonstrators should be warned that there will no longer be soft-touch justice but heavy fines and/or jail for breaking the law’ (Strathy, February 29).
This is easy to read as implying that all climate change demonstrators break the law.
They do not.
While some climate change demonstrations have been banned, many of them have been allowed.
For example, tens of thousands, perhaps 100,000, demonstrated peacefully and legally around Westminster in London 21 to 24 April, last year.
Inverness too has had peaceful climate change marches.
Mr Cross’s letter is divisive, a dog whistle to incite calls for banning all ‘eco-demonstrations’.
It smacks of some English right wing politicians’ conspiracy theories about Islamists which incite hatred of Muslims.
Peaceful non-violent demonstration underpins our democracy.
Of course, the law should prevent intimidation.
But let us not slide towards banning dissent, such as in Russia today.
Dermot Williamson
Kincraig.
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Green MSP turned down our invite to meet at Coul links to discuss plans
I am writing in response to the Strathspey & Badenoch Herald article published online on February 23 which was titled “Highland MSP champions housing, not golf courses.”
I am an unpaid director (as all our directors are – unfortunately we have no American billionaires) of Communities for Coul (C4C), the not-for-profit community group that submitted the planning application for a golf course at Coul Links in East Sutherland.
Our initiative has the unequivocal support of the people who actually live in the towns and villages of our local area.
In fact, we received almost 70 per cent support in a local ballot managed by Civica, the largest supplier of election services in the UK, receiving a percentage of the total electorate more than eight times greater than Ariane Burgess, the Highlands Green regional MSP that the article quotes.
As a community group, we do not disagree with Ms Burgess’s wish to see more housing and that is why 30 new homes (15 of which would be long-term affordable) and two new crofts are among the many benefits the golf course development would bring.
We also share Ms Burgess’s desire to create sustainable work.
According to Professor David Bell CBE, one of Scotland’s leading economists and a regular adviser to both the Scottish and UK governments, the golf course will create up to 400 jobs.
All jobs directly connected to Coul Links will be paid a minimum of at least the Real Living Wage.
With regard to the sustainability of these jobs, Coul Links will be a world-class golf course with a similar standing to nearby Royal Dornoch, and it celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2027.
Although it is disappointing that Ms Burgess has taken the position she has, it is not surprising as she has never visited Coul Links, having turned down an open invitation from C4C to do so.
Her views must therefore be predicated on the unsafe information being provided by the organisations that oppose our initiative and therefore reflect her ignorance of the true facts of our application.
Gordon Sutherland
Director of C4C
Address supplied.
