No place for invasive species

Dear Spurtle 

In your report on the demise of the Leith Walk armadillos and the subsequent protests by conservationists (Breaking news, 16.12.17), you raise the question of whether they might be replaced by barracudas or ninja hedgehogs. 

Leith Central Community Council's position is that all these bolt-ons are non-native invasive species and we should ask ourselves whether yet another isolated experiment on Leith Walk will produce undesirable side-effects. 

Arguably, rolling up sleeves and getting the whole length of the Walk finally and speedily done after 10 years of devastation and stop-start repairs – and using up the remaining £5m (?) in the Leith Walk programme pot for an easy-to-read, robust design – should be the focus. And consistent enforcement of basic rules of parking reguations and the Highway Code. 

Harald Tobermann

Vice Chair

Leith Central Community Council 

[Image: David Wehner, Wikipedia. Creative Commons.]