“What on earth is going on?”
Plymouth Guildhall is to be closed for years(Image: Matt Gilley)
Today’s featured reader letters in our sister print title The Herald include questions over the Guildhall closure, more backlast to Plymouth’s parking charges hike and the continued debate about energy.
Get in touch – tell us what you think. You can comment below or email [email protected] to be featured.
Guildhall revamp taking so long it could be rebuilt
What on earth is going on in Plymouth Guildhall that keeps it closed until 2029?
It could be demolished and rebuilt by then with the right contractor.
Surely we need more info on the scale of works and costs involved.
Money from the ‘good debt’ account again. Add in the lost income from lost events/functions the overall cost looks like being considerable. More details please!
N Wyman
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If my bus doesn’t arrive it’s three hours to wait
RE: Get a bus if you don’t like parking charges: Well it’s like this, if your bus is once every three hours a day (making it a restricted area to live), I am a disabled lady, can’t drive, too young for bus pass, no buses early in morning, or Sundays, last bus at 4.30pm.
If a bus doesn’t turn up, it’s six hours for a bus, when we should have a bus every hour at least, I have no shops for four miles around me.
I have only one road in and out only enough road for one vehicle at a time.
When people moan about having to wait 10 minutes for the next bus, I tell them if mine doesn’t turn up its three hours to wait – or be faced with getting a taxi back if it’s after 3pm as there won’t be a bus home.
Mrs S King
Does Nigel Farage still admire Donald Trump?
Donald Trump has created chaos and carnage with the ill-planned and illegal war against Iran. The world economy is suffering and our petrol and energy costs are rocketing. The US-Israeli strikes have caused over 1,400 deaths and 18,500 injuries to date in Iran alone. This includes at least 110 young children out of the 168 killed in the Minab girls’ school, which was struck by an American Tomahawk missile on the first day of the conflict. In November 2024, Nigel Farage said that his hero Donald Trump would make the world ‘a better, safer place’. Would you really vote for a party led by this man?
Mike Baldwin
Even the Gulf nations investing in renewables
The global energy landscape is shifting, and it is doing so in a way that should make the UK pause for thought. While some still argue for squeezing every last drop from the North Sea, the world’s most successful oil-rich states are already voting with their feet – and wallets.
Gulf nations are no longer just oil giants; they are rapidly becoming renewable superpowers. They aren’t just installing vast wind and solar arrays at home; they’re shifting their massive investment portfolios away from fossil fuels to fund solar infrastructure across Africa.
These nations recognise that as African populations urbanise and tap into mineral wealth, they won’t be looking to yesterday’s technology. They want the cheapest, most efficient power available: renewables.
The contrast with what some argue for the UK is stark. The North Sea is a maturing basin in terminal decline. New sites are becoming increasingly expensive, technically difficult, and slow to bring online.
Furthermore, because our oil and gas output is a drop in the ocean of global markets, it is sold to the highest bidder. This leaves British consumers trapped in a cycle of price volatility dictated by international crises. The days where we benefit from “homegrown” fossil fuels are long gone.
If the very countries rich in the cheapest oil to access are now pivoting to clean energy, why are we hesitant? To ensure true energy security and price stability, the UK must stop chasing the ghosts of the North Sea and look to the future. If we don’t, we aren’t just failing the planet – we’re failing a basic test of economic foresight.
Jill Burdall
Peston debunked myth over wind and solar
With so much conflicting information over energy bills, it was refreshing to see Robert Peston’s recent analysis on ITV finally debunking the myth that wind and solar power are driving up our costs.
For too long, renewables have been a convenient scapegoat for high prices. However, as Peston’s reporting made clear, the real issue lies in a “marginal pricing” system that is frankly outdated.
Currently, the price of all electricity in the UK is almost always pegged to the price of natural gas, the most expensive fuel used to meet demand. Even when we produce large amounts of cheap, homegrown wind and solar energy, consumers are too often forced to pay a “gas price” for that electricity.
The data shows a near-perfect correlation between the spike in wholesale gas prices and the rise in our household bills. If wind and solar were the problem, we would have seen costs rise independently of gas; instead, we are seeing the opposite. In fact, many renewable projects under “Contracts for Difference” have actually been returning money to the grid during these price spikes, acting as a buffer rather than a burden. It is time we stop blaming the solutions and start addressing the root cause: our over-reliance on volatile international gas markets. To lower bills permanently, we need to decouple electricity prices from gas and lean further into the “home-grown” clean energy that Peston correctly identified as our best path to energy security.
Emma Grainger
