THE latest study charting the crisis of town centres ("Fresh fears raised over future of high street, The Herald, December 17) makes depressingly familiar reading.

The impact on retailing of out-of-town shopping and e-commerce are familiar, though the detailed evidence provided by the study by the Local Data Company, the Institute for Retail Studies and the University of Stirling is valuable.

Retailing is important, and I endorse the calls for planners to "put town centres first". However, we need to grasp the wider picture. Politicians and departments in central and local government also need to put town centres first. Rationalisation of services to achieve efficiency gains is resulting in relocations of schools and the offices of government agencies or local authorities to sites on the edge of towns. The consequent loss of footfall and trade in the town centre is not included in the accountancy. Fine public buildings, landmarks occupying key sites in the town centres, are lying empty across Scotland's towns.

Time is short, and practical action is needed fast if we are to get out of the downward spiral of dis­­investment and drab decay. There is some good local work being done by business improvement districts, but we need to look for a vision and a commitment from the Scottish Government and local authorities. They, and the NHS, could review the location of all their offices and actively seek to "put town centres first".

At worst this could stem the drain that has been occurring. More positively, an active policy of investment in refurbishment and reuse of historic buildings in the town centres could boost jobs and sustain trade skills.

Emeritus Professor Cliff Hague,

Built Environment Forum Scotland,

9 Manor Place,

Edinburgh.

WE don't need another report on the state of Scottish town centres. We do need a medium and long-term vision of how we want Scottish high streets to look in the 21st century.

The example of traditional New England towns in the 1960s should have pointed the way.

Out-of-town shopping centres were built with convenient free parking. Shoppers took advantage of the cheap prices and convenience, abandoned the shops on Main Street and the communities died. We have repeated these mistakes in Scotland. Gordon Brown laid the foundation stone for the Dunfermline Eastern Expansion (DEX) in 2000. This is an American suburb transplanted to the north-east of Dunfermline. It includes retail parks and the Fife Leisure Centre. Commercial interests built cheap sheds and the low overheads and free parking attracted the shoppers away from Dunfermline town centre, which is now in serious trouble.

Alex Salmond paid Amazon.co.uk £9m to move from Glenrothes to Dunfermline, where 700 low-paid jobs were created. Amazon pays little or no UK taxes. Amazon's online low prices have contributed to the decline of the Scottish high street. We all pay for these low prices with the loss of shops on the high street and the community spirit they create. We pay for the belated Government efforts to restore the high streets to their former glory.

In Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute council is in the midst of spending £7m to "improve" the town. The pavements are being laid with Chinese granite. Helensburgh is a traditional seaside town; people visit to walk on the esplanade and enjoy the views down the Clyde. They are not going to visit to experience Chinese granite underfoot.

The decline of the Scottish high street is the fault of government. Local plans were written, put in a drawer and ignored. It takes forward planning and hard work to keep the high street up to date. The easy option is to expand outside the town. Amazon is doing what any commercial organisation should. It is maximising its profits. The odd humiliation in front of the Public Accounts Committee in Westminster is a small price to pay.

We need local plans that are enforced and contain a Scottish vision of urban planning for the 21st century. The UK Government needs to rewrite the tax laws to deal with the Amazons and Starbucks who don't pay their way. We need to act now to protect what is left of our high streets. They are worth saving.

John Black,

6 Woodhollow House,

Helensburgh.

THERE is one word that doesn't but should feature in your depressing but entirely predictable report on the decline of Scotland's high streets. It is supermarkets.

Scott Rorison,

161 High Street,

Dumbarton.