East Lothian Courier letters: April 11, 2023

‘The last spark of hope’ has gone

We think the closing of the Bistro at the Brunton has been the last spark of hope for our community of Musselburgh.

In the last few years, we have lost Eskgreen nursing home, seen the closure of the Old Town Hall and the demise of Stoneyhill Community Centre. We have heard nothing positive from East Lothian Council regarding The Brunton in all these months of closure, with the theatre being outsourced, leading to huge speculation.

It is not enough to inform people that the council is waiting on building survey results to arrive. There is an urgency to have this building up and running. This is the ‘go-to’ place for our community and many would say, because of its location, the heartbeat of the town.

If it is not East Lothian Council’s intention to open up The Brunton then surely it has a duty to make our community aware of what exactly is happening with this building, which back in the day was donated to the people of Musselburgh.

Irene Tait

Chair, Musselburgh & Inveresk Community Council

‘The root cause’

So the East Lothian Council PR machine can stand down for a wee while after pushing through the annual council budget – as usual, another smoke and mirrors effort that will, as always, not address the real issues that have resided for far too long now within our council, particularly the organisational culture: no accountability for anything by anyone, as my next comments will fully shine a light on.

My heart breaks that, after so many years of hard work, Norma Buchan has announced the closure of her business [the Bistro at the Brunton] in the Brunton Hall. I have two reasons for writing this letter.

First of all, to make sure that Norma does indeed know an awful lot of us care about her and what she has done for so many over so many years. The Bistro has been a form of ‘hub’ for so many in the local community. To be treated by the council as some form of collateral damage on the back of their mismanagement and incompetence is unacceptable.

My second point is to ask the very direct question of exactly who is responsible for allowing this situation to escalate to this position? As usual, the answer will be no one, of course – plenty of people drawing down very healthy salaries and pension benefits with no responsibility or accountability for anything whatsoever.

It becomes increasingly clear to me that the only strategy the council has to address its primarily self-inflicted financial problems is to close various community facilities across the county.

I have always found it very illuminating how many senior people running our council look for accountability and responsibility as important traits in others but never themselves. The complete lack of real leadership in our council is the root cause for all the problems we are now seeing more frequently than ever. Until that changes, nothing else will.

Brian Small

Pencaitland

Cycle proposals

It is good that our council is taking seriously the safety and convenience of those who use bicycles. So it is a shame that the proposals for a cycle route along the A199 (former A1), between East Linton and Haddington, are likely to frustrate drivers and make bus services less attractive, without being much help to cyclists.

There is already a far more pleasant and arguably safer route for cyclists between the towns than this proposal could ever achieve, by way of Hailes Castle and along the south side of Amisfield: part of National Cycle Route 76.

A westbound cyclist may have to stop occasionally at one give-way junction, but there is often in both directions a conveniently uninterrupted ride between the A199 crossroads at East Linton and Haddington town centre.

Motor traffic is light and the scenery can be enjoyed without the dominating sight and sound of big fast vehicles for most of the way. In the hedge-cutting/puncture season, sharing NCR76 with a small amount of motor traffic has the advantage that the bigger tyres neutralise nature’s tacks quickly compared with a cycle track flanked by thorn hedge.

On the A199, the hump of Pencraig could intimidate some riders, though probably not as many as non-cyclists may think. A more significant deterrent would be having to cross, and often stop and wait at, the junctions of the Bangley Quarry access road and the fairly busy B1347. To avoid the obvious hazards of the shorter route through two roundabouts at the Haddington East A1 flyover, the proposed route leaves the A199 towards the Abbey Bridge, leaving details of the continuation undetermined. This diversion would probably result in a slightly longer total distance than the NCR route. The 90° change in direction would also mean crossing the A199 and, in the approach from the south, a sharp uphill ramp.

Between Haddington and East Linton, a modest spend on the existing stretch of NCR76 would be more useful. Direction signage wrecked by a skidding car years ago has never been replaced. Along the narrow Braeheads Road are several places where surface water drainage is problematic, even in one instance after long summer droughts.

As they stand, the proposals would lead to the incongruous situation of a 40mph limit on a rural former trunk road, with 60mph applying to surrounding country lanes, which are the preferred habitat for most recreational cyclists.

William Patterson

Preston Road

East Linton

Repairs needed

In her letter protesting the closure of Belhaven Hospital (April 4), Jacquie Bell singles out for challenge East Lothian Council’s expenditure on roof repairs to the Loch Centre in Tranent.

In contrast to the relative prosperity of the Belhaven area, the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation places parts of Tranent within the bottom 20 per cent of the most deprived areas in Scotland.

Recently, the Northfield/Lindores Drive area was identified as the 653rd most deprived place in Scotland, with issues such as low income and health inequalities contributing to its ranking.

This marks the first time an East Lothian community has been named in the top 10 per cent of Scotland’s most deprived areas.

While neighbouring towns to the east of the county are rated among the least deprived in Scotland, Tranent remains an integral part of the diverse fabric of East Lothian and surely merits essential repairs being made to the roof of an intrinsic and popular community facility.

Robert McNair

Tranent

‘More for less’

In stout defence of her patch, Jacquie Bell (Courier, April 4) risks starting a turf war over scant public funds. Before pitting the likes of Tranent swimming pool off against Belhaven Hospital, it would be helpful to understand the financial deficit claimed by the board of NHS Lothian.

A shortfall of £133 million is being used to justify cuts to health services across East Lothian. However, I can find no detail on how that deficit was calculated. It’s worth investigating further because the operating budget of NHS Lothian will increase by five per cent this financial year.

I suspect the recent NHS wage settlement hasn’t been fully funded. If so, then the Scottish Government has struck a Faustian bargain by making wage rises through service reductions, meaning the Scottish NHS is eating itself to stay alive.

The responsible way to fund pay rises is through boosting economic growth and increasing productivity. This is a challenging strategy that seems beyond the ability of our current political class. All parties prefer the lazy approach of borrowing from the future and taxing working people into the ground.

It’s simply untenable to charge Scots more for ever-poorer public services. Before accepting any cuts, we should be asking the health committee bureaucrats to explain their six-figure salaries and lavish pensions. We should reward genuine talent, not their failure to reduce our waiting lists.

Looking ahead, the UK is entering ever-more-challenging times. Preparing for war will impact every budget and spiralling debt/inflation will provide little room for manoeuvre. Consequently, the public sector must deliver more for less.

That’s why it was so disappointing to learn that East Lothian Council made the last two senior appointments from within. The chief executive should have used the opportunity to bring in genuine commercial talent. Top bureaucrats busy feather-bedding their own nests won’t stop the flight of our services.

Calum Miller

Polwarth Terrace

Prestonpans

There is room!

In your report of Prestonpans Community Council saying it has “no room” to display King Charles III’s official portrait (Courier, April 4), you correctly report that our Battle of Prestonpans and Jacobite Heritage Museum rents Prestonpans Town Hall, but this does not prevent the portrait being displayed there.

We have the ideal location in our Jubilee Room dedicated to the jubilees of Queens Victoria and Elizabeth II, diamond and platinum respectively, in 2022; in the same spirit as Haddington Day Centre’s Caroline Scott, we’ve been in touch with the Lord Lieutenant.

Beyond publicly demonstrating our respect for the present King of Scots, however, we have a particular and unique heritage interest in the title he carries. The victor at the Battle of Prestonpans, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, carried that same title and numerical designation in exile from 1766-1778 as Jacobite claimant to the thrones of Great Britain and Ireland.

As a trust, we have a standing open invitation to today’s rightful King Charles III to visit with us in Prestonpans as circumstances might permit, when we look forward to discussing the relative fates of Scotland’s two Charles IIIs.

Dr Gordon Prestoungrange MBE

Chairman, Battle of Prestonpans [1745] Heritage Trust

Left like a slum

This morning, I stepped out of my gate, past my brown bin – which is changing to a pay-for service – across the dog mess-smeared pavement and through the weekend litter to the now-almost-entirely-destroyed bus stop (and broken bin) at Wallyford terminus.

The bus stop has been very badly damaged and vandalised since last year and is now a completely broken-down embarrassing eyesore because that is what happens if you don’t deal promptly with vandalism. We all know that.

In ignoring this, I assume that someone at the council offices in Haddington, while administering council tax payments and removing services, is also channelling a 1950s Eastern Bloc slum vision for this otherwise pleasant village.

It brings to mind the council’s slogan – ‘Enabling Leading Caring’ – and “taking responsibility to deliver the highest-quality services”.

I presume they simply missed off the ending: “But not if we can’t see you from the council offices in Haddington…”

Amanda Baker

Wallyford