Letters: Managers right to take no risks at windy Botanics

Having had 14 years' experience in horticulture I can verify that large limbs do occasionally come off trees. I have had personal experience of being near trees when they have failed and I can honestly say that had I been much closer to them at the time of the incident then I would probably not be writing this letter.

I have seen large limbs drop from trees on a perfectly calm day for no apparent reason, so obviously the windier it becomes the more likely that something like this will take place.

People should also remember that summer gales could be potentially worse as a tree in full leaf acts like a giant sail and is more likely to be toppled.

I back RBGE 100 per cent on the decision to close. I am not sure if the Botanics offers any kind of refund to their visitors in the event of an evacuation however if they don't perhaps this is something that could be considered. Any person who has paid for the Glasshouse or a meal at the Terrace Cafe should perhaps be given a voucher so that they can return on an alternative occasion.

Alastair Macintyre, Webster Place, Rosyth, Fife

Overreaction to reactors drama

ANGUS McGregor (Interactive, April 1) overreacts to the accident in Japan and the detection of one radionuclide in Scotland. The latter has only been detected with very sensitive equipment and poses no risk to people here.

The reactors at Fukushima actually withstood the earthquake and shut down as required. The failure was not to have protected the cooling system from an overwhelming tsunami. Apart from the fact that East Lothian does not suffer large earthquakes, let alone tsunamis, Torness is a different type of reactor, cooled by a gas not a liquid. This type of reactor has operated safely for 60 years in the UK without failure.

Complacency is foreign to nuclear power plant operators, who do their best to ensure safe operation and are supervised by a government inspection agency. Consequently there is no cause for alarm in Edinburgh.

Steuart Campbell, Dovecot Loan, Edinburgh

Not a trams fan, but they will run

A News article states that I was optimistic that "the trams are back on track". Please let me clarify. I was specifically asked about the meeting with group leaders, with the council chief executive and the new chairman of TIE, Vic Emery.

I said that the mood they conveyed was optimistic and that the conciliation talks had borne fruit which should result in some form of conclusion to this saga soon. I also said the people of the city deserved to see this matter brought to a close.

Do I support the tram project? No!

Do I think the trams will ever run? Yes.

Councillor Steve Cardownie, Forth Ward

Amazed at jail time reduction

AFTER having read that the judges have reduced Alan Cameron's sentence from 25 years to 14 years, I was amazed and disgusted (News, March 30).

The man is a child sex offender who should not be allowed to walk the streets. Twenty-five years was not long enough but, to lessen it to 14 is totally unacceptable.

Where is the justice for Heather Stacey? Will any of those judges volunteer to explain that to her children? Does this horrendous crime have to happen to one of theirs before justice is really carried out and would the sentence be the same? I wonder.

If this man is allowed out in 14 years, it will be a mockery of justice and proof that the law is on the side of the criminal.

B Wallace, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada