Readers’ letters: Forestry in Scotland is in a death spiral

The irony in all this is that people want to plant trees, and we have any amount of land that is suitable for planting trees. There is any amount of money available for planting trees, but the delivery mechanisms are not working. Private investment in forestry is simply inflating the value of land and changing the names on title deeds. It is barely planting a single tree. We see these multi-million pound land sales taking place, but they are simply a carbon accounting exercise.

In terms of process, it is entirely possible to screen out obvious constraints on a piece of land quickly, and build a scheme that works on the rest. It should not take two years. Too much can change in that time, and people end up walking away because the development costs are too high. Many smaller and medium-sized schemes are simply not viable any more, and woodland planting figures are reliant on big institutional investors whose motivations are usually not good. They are the ones who bring forward the controversial schemes

Forestry in Scotland is now in a death spiral, and has been for some time. You cannot blame people for speaking out about it in the hope of bringing about some positive change.

Victor Clements, Native Woodland Advice, Perthshire

Licence fee

Jane Bradley reports musicians’ concerns over the changes to late-night programmes on BBC Radio Scotland (Scotsman, 18 December).

It is likely that behind this move is a need for the BBC to control costs, and that raises a big question on the BBC in general. There is a growing clamour for the licence fee to be scrapped and the BBC to be brought in line with commercial channels and subscription services.

But what gets forgotten is the licence fee also pays for the radio services. Where will their future lie? Without the licence fee a possible scenario is BBC TV reducing to one channel based on entertainment and excluding public information programmes and based on the commercial model for funding. That, of course, would mean radio also being left to the commercial sector.

A choice between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Charles Lowson, Fareham, Hants

Putin’s ‘respect’

When asked by the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg if he planned any new “special military operations”, Putin replied there will be no operations “if you treat us with respect” – a “gangster’s reply” in your editorial’s pertinent words (20 December).

In remarks over the past two decades, Putin projects himself as an alpha-male strongman. He also controls the world’s largest country, the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, plus hypersonic missiles and massive conventional air, land and marine forces; he has the Orthodox Church in his pocket; and he is supported by an axis of similar powers and numerous fellow-traveller “neutrals”.

Despite all that, he still feels the need for our respect!

So, rather than being a self-confident strongman, does he not reveal himself, like many dictatorial gangster thugs, to be the reverse – and with such an inferiority-complex towards the West that he considers our “respect” is worth the million or more casualties, dead or wounded, that his war has inflicted on his own people, let alone possibly similar numbers among the Ukrainians whom he ludicrously claims are also his own people?

John Birkett, St Andrews, Fife

Concert blues

In an article about Jon Bon Jovi in the Scotsman Magazine (20 December), I read the scarcely credible news that he and his band will be playing at Murrayfield Stadium on 28 August next year.

For the second year running, a huge concert has been scheduled right in the middle of the Edinburgh Festival, a time when the city is packed to the gunnels. What lunatics have agreed to this idiocy? Does no-one in authority have a diary?

Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Edinburgh

Ferry fiasco

Another announcement of a delay to the second ferry being built by Ferguson Marine (your report, 20 December). Due to be handed over to Cal Mac by the end of June next year, it’s now likely not going to be until sometime in 2027. This ferry was due to be in service in 2018. There will have been three football World Cup tournaments by the time this ferry finally sees its first passenger.

If this doesn’t sum up the SNP’s competence, I really don’t know what does. A botched procurement process, a design that exceeded requirement, changes to the design once production had begun, delays after delays due to indecision and incompetence, administration of Ferguson and nationalisation, four CEOs since August 2019 and as for the costs, where to start on that?

The taxpayer has up to date paid more than £460 million for the ferries with the cost likely to rise due to the latest discovery of corrosion.

Has any politician been held accountable for the debacle? Of course not. In any private company, heads would have rolled years ago.

Jane Lax, Aberlour, Moray

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