WHEN so much of the country is having to work from home, perhaps it would have been more appropriate and safer for William and Kate to have thanked people by video call rather than making a Royal progress by train through a country at war ("Thank you! Royal couple bring festive cheer in Scotland visit", The Herald, December 8).

I have to conclude that they received advice about this idea from staff who also live on their planet, and who are equally out of touch with reality and how this journey would be viewed by many people.

Stuart Neville, Clydebank.

LEADERSHIP FAILURE

FOR a planning authority within a national park decisions taken should be in line with the Sandford Principle. This is a concept for the management of protected landscapes in the United Kingdom. It states: "Where irreconcilable conflicts exist between conservation and public enjoyment in National Parks, then the conservation interest should take priority." Obvious, one might think. Not in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

Two weeks ago the planning committee unanimously approved an application from the Hunter Foundation for a Global Leadership Centre at Ross Priory, Gartocharn. The proposal is on a scale that will dwarf Ross Priory; the new building with large plate-glass windows will be obtrusive, situated as it is right on the shoreline. The internationally designated National Nature Reserve is less than a kilometre from the proposed development.

No environmental impact assessment was deemed necessary after the national park planners' defective process of form filling. No site visit took place. The wildlife and environmental survey submitted by the applicant took place with two visits, one in March and one in November restricted to the development site only, implying that flora, fauna and wildlife follow lines on maps.

A letter has gone to Kevin Stewart, Minister for Planning at the Scottish Government, to ask that an Environmental Impact Assessment be carried out. If this were undertaken then other more sustainable options for the Global Leadership Centre would have to be taken into consideration, such as Balloch Castle or Ardlui Outdoor Centre. Our planners have failed to protect our natural heritage.

Sally Page, Gartocharn.

UNIVERSALLY CHALLENGED?

I WATCH University Challenge every week and although the knowledge on science, maths, geography and politics is impressive, the lack of learning shown in literature and history is very poor. Dickens and Shakespeare questions on Tuesday showed up the Glasgow team ("Glasgow’s roaring start to University Challenge run ends in a whimper", The Herald, December 8), but no wonder as none was from an arts background. However, in the present area of education in Scotland it is no guarantee that Scottish students would have fared any better.

Kay Pollock, Killearn.