Give me the right to die with dignity Richard appeals for law change on assisted death
Plans for the near million pound revamp of a Highland Perthshire square has been given the green light despite concerns that similar projects have“not worked in a lot of places”.
The works on Aberfeldy Square will begin on July 15 with the installation of new lighting, pavements and street furniture, and creating a‘shared space’ in an effort to make the area more attractive to tourists.
It was approved by all councillors on the planning and development management committee on Wednesday.
However, more than 30 people had objected to the regeneration plans, including two community councillors, citing fears over loss in trade during construction over the summer months as well as the plan to remove 14 car parking spaces in the square leaving just seven.
Two councillors also raised concerns that the plan has been given the go ahead, despite an impending review into issues at Kinross High Street’s own ‘shared space’.
The town received its own shared space as part of a £1 million
Work on Aberfeldy Square with start on July 15 regeneration project the council hoped would inject new life into the town — but has since come in for heavy criticism.
Kinross-shire Councillor Richard Watters said:“Kinross has a shared space area which will undergo review soon.
“Would it not be wise to have that reviewed before this is carried out?”
Fellow councillor, Willie Robertson, added:“I think it is unfortunate we don’t wait for the Kinross shared space review as it is something that has not worked in a lot of places.
“Are we are going to go ahead with this and not learn lessons from it [the Kinross review] first?
The council officer replied that both examples could not be feasibly compared as they have a“different context”with regards to their uses.
Afterwards concerns were raised over the plan to lose 14 parking spaces, but planning chiefs argued only around 60 percent of the Aberfeldy Community Campus spaces, a five minute walk from the square, are filled over the weekends and that it can compensate for the reduction.
The motion for the project was then carried without any objections. A terminally ill Perthshire man is preparing to travel to Switzerland to end his life saying he has become a“prisoner in my body.”
Richard Selley (65) of Glenalmond has chosen an assisted death in Zurich in September after a four-year battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), a fatal disease which affects the function of nerves and muscles.
Brave Mr Selley, who has to talk-type to communicate, wrote an open letter to MSPs which was published in The Times revealing his plans to leave Scotland for the last time.
Mr Selley wrote: “I have chosen to have an assisted death as I am now fully in the grip of terminal Motor Neurone Disease.
“After four years of decline I am now a prisoner in my body.”
Mr Selley praised the “outstanding care” he has received and has kept his humour sharp.
He added: “To use the terminology of Brexit, I have had my own little referendum and decided that I wish to leave rather than remain.
“I don’t wish to crash out in an undignified manner, so I am hoping to negotiate a withdrawal agreement that will not require a long transition period.
“As I enter the final stages of this journey, and the prospect of total paralysis, I have decided that I would prefer to leave this world before too much longer.”
Mr Selley will pay around £10,000 to travel to Switzerland to end his life.
“I am fortunate that I can afford this, but most people cannot,” he said.
“Having to be able to fly means that I am choosing to die earlier than I would prefer.”
Mr Selley, who has chosen an assisted death at the Dignitas clinic, is also calling for assisted death to be legalised in Scotland and will use the last weeks of his life to campaign for reform. The former teacher described the laws in Scotland as “cruel, outdated and discriminatory”. He said: “I hope that my letter to members of the Scottish Parliament might persuade more of them to support an assisted dying bill in the future. “The momentum for a change in the law is growing. “It will be too late for me but I hope that some time soon people in my position will have a chance to have a peaceful death at a time of their choosing.” Previous attempts to introduce new legislation have failed to get through the Scottish Parliament. Concerns have been made that reform could see relatives, or even clinicians, pressure Richard Selley vulnerable people into taking irrevocable decision.
Richard Selley has written a book, ‘Death Sits on My Shoulders’, about his life with MND.
The proceeds from the sale of the memoir about his experiences will be donated to MND Scotland.
His letter to MSPs concluded: “If the choice of an assisted death was available to me here in Scotland so many of my worries would have been eased.
“That precious time would be spent with my wife, my family and my friends.”
Mr Selley also said he would not contemplate an assisted death if his wife, Elaine, was at risk of prosecution.
She said she respects his decision as the condition often leaves him “tormented”.
Mrs Selley, a former warden of Glenalmond College, said: “I would much rather be with friends and family here when it’s his time than in a foreign country that’s a transactional business arrangement and it’s not with the people that I love.”
I’ve had my own little referendum and decided that I wish to leave rather than remain