Do not forget local people

Sir, - At last, an opening date for the Queensferry Crossing has been announced.

I for one am looking forward to walking across but only 50,000 are being allowed on the bridge and the decision is being made by ballot.

A total of 50,000 applications from all over the world were received on the first day and are still coming in.

It would be ironic if local people were not successful in the ballot, but people from other countries were able to walk over the bridge.

I am all for showing off Scotland’s achievements, but surely we should be given some priority to enjoy them too.

We have all contributed towards the cost and endured the delays and disruption the construction has caused, and we could end up on the sidelines while strangers are crossing our lovely new bridge.

George Sharp. 16a St Marys Road, Kirkcaldy.

People have been raising concerns about Mossmorran for years. Mossmorran has been given to bouts of emergency flaring for years and local residents have been contacting Mr Rowley with their worries for years, both in his previous capacity as a constituency MSP and as a councillor.

Mr Rowley lives in Kelty, so he can hardly have been unaware of the plant and its impacts.

Why on earth didn’t Mr Rowley do something about the situation before? Why wasn’t it top of his agenda when he led Fife Council?

When it comes to writing letters to the Scottish Government, which grabs headlines but which Mr Rowley knows will be ineffectual, the MSP has prior form.

He notoriously took the side of Fifers beleaguered by wind energy applications in the runup to the 2012 elections to write the Scottish Government a letter to ask for a moratorium on further wind development. He was met with blank refusal.

If Mr Rowley is genuine in wanting to help the people of Central Fife who have been suffering because of Mossmorran for decades, he is going to have to do more than ping an email to the Scottish Government and issue a press release.

(Cllr) Linda Holt. Dreel House. Pittenweem.