Sir, - Every week we read letters and articles about the Moray economy and how everyone needs to pull together to get it up and moving again in the wake of RAF Kinloss service personnel leaving the area.

One week new jobs are coming, then we read that businesses in the area are closing down due to lack to turnover. Some people

politicians must be having a good laugh at Moray Council's expense.

A story in 'The Northern Scot' on January 27 was headlined 'Cheaper parking goes down a treat'. How can this be when the large, main Lossie Green car park opposite the Town Hall and the smaller one over by the Cooper Park pond are lying half full, yet the waste ground at Lossie Green next to the river is practically full to the neck most days?

Then I read 'Waiting time extended for drivers at Cooper Park'. What purpose does this serve the town centre, may I ask? It's certainly no use to disabled people wishing to shop on the High Street. Surely Elgin councillors should be opting for a better service closer to the High Street, i.e. three hours for £1 to allow people to enjoy their shopping rather than trying to beat the clock.

Where can anyone enjoy a good shopping experience, including visiting a local restaurant for a light bite and coffee in two hours? Just last week I drove down the High Street at 10.30am, planning a visit to the RBS bank and local butchers. Both sides of the street were full of cars and vans; one side taxis and the other delivery vehicles. My planned trip was changed to another day at 9am.

I still think the High Street is not the place for all those taxis sitting idle and using up valuable space for shoppers, who bring much-needed cash to the shop tills.

Another story tells of bakers closing down on Batchen Street, showing again how this new High Street plan has failed. What good is it to only be able to drop off or pick up in Batchen Street? A disabled person can be dropped off and left to their own devices while their transport circles the town to come back and pick them up again, hopefully having been able to do their shopping. Utterly ridiculous and unsatisfactory.

I don't think the disabled parking on North Street has been a total success, either. This should be up on the level High Street.

Then we have this Elgin bypass

loop road, call it what you may. Is this going to be dual carriageway to tie in with the proposed dualling of the A96? Again it seems the planners are not sure what they are doing with the A96 Inverness to Aberdeen. Some say it is impossible to dual the entire 100 miles or so, others say it can be done. Can someone clarify this for me?

I am delighted Springfield have come to a sensible solution to their plans for the south end of Elgin, bringing much-needed employment to the area.

A political hot potato and another example of the Moray councillors getting it wrong as regards improving our economy.

Let's all agree that if the economy is to grow and the area prospers we need three things: people coming into the area to set up home etc; and people using our local high street shops, and tourism opportunities.

In the North-east we not only have some of the finest shops and manufacturers in the area, but we have breath-taking scenery, second to none in Europe. If the councils are going to continue allowing outsiders to blight our fantastic countryside with huge and ugly wind farms, tourists from across the world are not going to come and visit the area. The results will be catastrophic to the tourist industry across the board.

Dare I say it, but if Alex Salmond and his followers want independence he'd better start looking at the effects and damage these wind farms will do in the long term and support the rural economies by making a stand and put a ban on any further developments in the North-east before it is too late.

We are surrounded by water, so I would suggest unobtrusive sea turbines would be a better option. I'm sure there are many isolated lochs that could be used for generating hydro power. - Yours etc,

R.D. Russell

Elgin.