YOUR VIEWS: Is the Highlands’ holiday offering truly world class?
A few weeks ago I was fortunate to have a package holiday to Zell am See in the Austrian Alps.
On arrival at the hotel my wife and I were each given a 'Sommerkarte' entitling us to free transport throughout the sizeable region of Pinzgau.
There were well coordinated trains, buses and a lake ferry.
There was the use of 10 gondola and cable car uplifts all facilitating high level walking.
Museums, indoor and outdoor swimming facilities and visits to a wildlife park, a silver mine, museums and hydro schemes were included on this free card.
It was near season's end and there were a few days of less than perfect weather and visitor numbers were low and yet the uplift facilities still operated all day.
In reading the comments of Cairngorm Mountain's retiring boss Susan Smith it might have been thought that we, in Badenoch and Strathspey have, or are about to have comparable facilities.
There's always it seems something to be positive about. "World class", "stunning", "breath- taking"are some of the all too common banalities applied to Highland's tourist set up.
Is there not a need for a reality check, some recognition of short-comings?
I'm not really criticising those in our publicly run organisations.
They always have to ‘sell themselves’ but maybe it might just be useful to recognise that a lot of stuff in our area and throughout Scotland and indeed the UK just doesn't work very well.
How can a small country like Austria have an incomparably better infrastructure?
I noticed that much of that country's electricity production is state owned.
I read the other day of Highland Council's efforts to get a better deal from the wind farms were slated. The council does seem to be trying!
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What if we owned more of the wind turbines? Wouldn't that generate some much needed capital for the public realm?
Or what if we owned more of the land? £3 or £4 billion for the A9? Buy the Highland estates instead and we'll still maybe have a billion to play with.
I never understand why countries in Europe, rich or poor, are able to have road tunnels through hilly obstacles rather than our solutions of going round or up and over.
Is it that our planning laws give landowners too much say? Or is there a great game going on where lawyers are the chief beneficiaries?
Perhaps in the Strathy columns someone might give their thoughts on why it is we see so little progress-whether the addressing of climate change, housing shortages, public transport, care services, NHS....
Lots of good people are trying to make improvements but it seems that many other countries seem to have the means and organisation to act much more effectively.
Dick Webster
Kingussie.
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Embarrassed by Scotland’s rail services
Re the online article Aviemore Station platform crowded with evacuated passengers
On Saturday I travelled that line from Inverness to Edinburgh. There were many American visitors, with large cases.
The train was crammed, with people having to sit in the passages, and no catering trolley.
The tourists were appalled, and their comments demonstrated their disgust at a broken transport system.
As a Scot, it was embarrassing to see my country viewed in such a negative light.
To give another example atInverness Station, you still require 50p to use the toilet but of course nobody has coins these days.
Drew McAdam
Polbeth.
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Ignoring the obvious on motorhomes
I am writing in response to the Business Matters column headlined ‘Highland Council motorhomes scheme has only added fuel to fire’.
It's clear that campsites solution to the issue of motorhomers coming to the Highlands all year round would simply be.... make then use campsites.
However that's how we got in this situation in the first place.
Campsites have always been available to use but it's clear they don't represent good value to people who have toilets and showers on board already.
What campsite need to do is something I'd have thought the Federation of Small Businesses would have recommended already - compete.
In France many campsites have their own Aires for self- contained motorhomes to park overnight before continuing on their travels.
The motto of 'if you can't beat them - join them' has never been truer.
Donald Macdonald President of Campra (The Campaign for Real Aires)
Glasgow.
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Do not suffer in silence in the freeze this winter
With the days feeling shorter, our thoughts are turning to the winter ahead and people up and down the country will be thinking about switching their heating on soon.
But now, many older people, including millions living on a low income, will head into the colder months justifiably anxious about having their Winter Fuel Payment taken away from them as they do not receive Pension Credit.
The latest figures show that only 63% of eligible people are receiving Pension Credit, meaning up to 1.2 million older people could be missing out on an important entitlement, and so could have their Winter Fuel Payment taken away despite living on an extremely low income.
In Edinburgh a massive £12.5 million in Pension Credit is going unclaimed.
Our helpline is regularly receiving calls from older people that are frightened about losing the money, and we are concerned that many will feel forced to keep their heating off.
Being cold can be damaging to your physical and mental health, but the people we speak to think this is their only option as they simply do not have enough money to cover even higher energy bills.
If you are 66 and over and are concerned about losing the Winter Fuel Payment, we urge you to check your Pension Credit eligibility as the one-off payment is now tied to this entitlement.
Your claim for Pension Credit can be backdated, and if you successfully apply before the 21st December you will qualify for the Winter Fuel Payment as long as you lived in the UK during the qualifying week which is between 16th and 22nd September 2024, and you can show you were entitled to Pension Credit during that time.
You can check your eligibility through the UK Government’s Pension Credit Calculator and apply direct by calling this number 0800 99 1234.
Or you can come to a charity like us at Independent Age by calling our free and confidential helpline on 0800 319 6789 and we can help work out what you might be eligible for and help you apply if needed.
Pension Credit can be transformative, it tops up income by on average, almost £4,000 a year. It also acts as a gateway to other benefits such as free TV licences for over 75s, free NHS prescriptions, council tax reduction, Housing Benefit, free eye tests and much more.
Joanna Elson
Chief Executive of Independent Age
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Government approach is continuing UK’s pain
The evidence from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, estimating the additional cost to the NHS of treating the 262,000 pensioners impacted by the cut in winter fuel payments, illustrates the naivety in Labour continuing the Tory austerity agenda.
The cost to the NHS of treating these individuals has been estimated to be more than £169 million a year and exemplifies the damaging impact of continuing with an economic programme of swingeing cuts.
Reductions in public expenditure and investment at the wrong time in the economic cycle are counterproductive, inhibiting growth at a time when it is desperately needed, and increasing the size of the debt relative to economic output.
Chancellor Reeves intends to fill the financial black hole through a combination of cuts, including those to the Winter Fuel allowance, as well as cutting capital investment programmes.
However, there are alternatives. Borrowing big to invest as part of a modern industrial strategy is an entirely mainstream alternative, as promoted by the likes of leading economists John Maynard Keynes and Joseph Stiglitz.
We need to invest heavily in the new technologies and infrastructure that will drive growth, however compared to the EU and the US our programmes to date have been pitiful.
If the Labour government want to grow the economy, the current approach being taken will do nothing to deliver this and will only serve to damage it further. It is very much a case of more continuing pain, for less gain.
Alex Orr
Edinburgh.
