Inconsistencies in town improvements

Sir, – Councillor Linda Holt is bang on about Fife Council’s Spaces for People scheme, which is grossly disproportionate and characteristically inconsistent.

Of course, dealing with some pavement pinchpoints may be appropriate.

For example, the council cites the Co-op in Crail, and says pedestrians now have 2m extra width, so now perhaps 3m in total.

But across much of South Street, St Andrews, 3m pavements are deemed inadequate, and dozens of parking spaces lost as a consequence. Meanwhile, in

one of the busier parts of that street, a 3m wide pavement has been closed for the purposes of a business, with pedestrians funnelled through a 1.5m gap.

Personally, I don’t have a particular problem with that sort of compromise, but other businesses beside wide and near-deserted pavements are now being penalised.

And as someone at higher than average risk of Covid, the last thing on my mind has been lack of pavement space.

It would be interesting to see how the council has assessed the risk of Covid versus the threat to jobs, business, mental health problems and stressrelated illnesses.

Stuart Winton. Dunino, St Andrews.

“We are at a perilous moment in the course of this pandemic...In parts of the country the situation is again becoming very serious. Hospitalisations in the north-west are doubling approximately every fortnight. They have risen by 57% in just the last week alone” - Matt Hancock tells the annual conference of NHS Providers there are difficult times ahead. “It is deeply disappointing to wake up this morning to reports that new Covid-19 restrictions affecting millions of people in our city region, and across the north, could be in place within days, rather than hearing it during a genuine dialogue between ministers and local leaders” - Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram reacts to leaked plans to close pubs and restaurants in coronavirus hotspots next week to tackle rising coronavirus cases.

“If there is one message to send out it must be that President Trump was 100% incorrect in his statements this week around flu and Covid and we must not let his words influence anything here”

- Dr Nick Scriven, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, reacts to new figures which suggest Covid-19 could be more deadly than flu and pneumonia combined.

“We are by no means out of firepower and will use that firepower as appropriate, promptly and strongly, in response to any second and third waves (of Covid-19) where we think it’s necessary and appropriate to do that” - Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey says policymakers will take prompt action to support the economy through a second or third wave of coronavirus.