Why we have changed our letters pages

It’s partly to do with the changing ways people communicate with us, and also to curb the growing number of correspondents who send the same letters to almost every paper in Scotland – sometimes one a day, every day.

No disrespect to that latter group, but, to be honest, many of them have little, if anything to say, that is worth the space they have been given for far too long.

The Brexit and indyref debates will continue, and we welcome the views of readers from across the political divide.

But we want to focus on local issues from local people.

The way folk communicate with us has changed, so our letters spread has changed to reflect this.

We still welcome your comments by post and email and will ensure they are given priority in our letters section.

But we will also tap into the huge debate which takes place daily on our Facebook page which now has over 20,000 followers, and continues to grow at a steady rate.

Each week we will take a cross section of comments posted on our stories highlighting issues which affect our communities.

We hope the move encourages more people to join the debate and make their voices heard.