Totally ‘scunnert’ with all the Covid excuses

Sir, – This awful situation we find ourselves in pushes us towards a life we’re not used to.

However change is said to be good and, right now, necessary.

We are by dint of trying to stay safe, changing our way of living.

Is it nature or nurture when we do what we do?

It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that we are attempting to get out and get back to whatever we see as normal.

The trouble is we are behaving as was normal before.

The litter issues are well documented and, here in Forfar, we are not without this blight.

Only now we have the added public health issue as we discard our face coverings and disposable gloves.

We can blame various age groups, but this doesn’t actually help.

Our communityminded volunteer pickeruppers are very wary of PP, which is discarded like chip papers.

A wider issue is one where we are made aware of the increased incidence of human waste in our rural areas in particular.

Walking the hills and disposing of such has been dealt with over decades so why is this such a problem now?

A wee collapsible hand shovel/trowel is easy to carry in a rucksack.

In our urban areas the problem is prevalent too.

Could this be that any public toilet facilities have not yet caught up with the aftermath of lockdown?

If we are all to get out more, this is something which has to be addressed.

A walk round our local loch will present a problem if you’re caught short, as a much sought-after toilet is still reported missing in action. This is despite a lengthy project and some public money being allocated to create this facility.

A recent local, Travellers’ encampment left its mark too and has taken a very long time to clean up.

This is disappointing. I’m a wee bit scunnert’ with the answer that ‘this is due to Covid-19’.

If communities are expected to play their part, we really shouldn’t be having this type of statement from local authorities or any other organisation.

I believe the vast majority of people are really trying their best to cope.

We’re getting through this and with a true partnership spirit, when all sides do their best, we can and will come out the other side.

Linda Clark. Inchgarth Street, Forfar.