For several decades Labour-dominated city councils have shown little interest in, or support for, the west end and other perceived “leafy suburbs” of Glasgow. Any local opposition to inappropriate planning applications was routinely ignored or rejected by councillors and officials.
When the SNP gained control of Glasgow City Council in the recent local elections, I was confident a more sympathetic attitude would be apparent. But sadly It seems that my confidence was misplaced (“Council accused of acting against natural justice on campus homes”, The Herald, September 13 & Letters, September 14).
In the planning appeal process Jordanhill community council and many hundreds of local residents expressed their concern about the over-development of the former Jordanhill College site, pointing inter alia to the very limited vehicle access and the lack of available local schooling facilities. But these were all brushed aside at committee level. Now even the eminently sensible suggestion that a community centre be provided to encourage integration between new and existing residents has apparently been dismissed by the council leader Susan Aitken.
It seems that the unspoken but obvious deciding factor is the attraction of additional council revenue from high local rates and taxes. I had expected a more balanced and sympathetic approach by SNP councillors but it seems my confidence was misplaced. As always in politics, money and self-interest talk loudest and take precedence over principles, people and commonsense.
Iain AD Mann, 7 Kelvin Court, Glasgow.
Cala Homes managing director Jim McIntyre is proud of his company’s plans for the Jordanhill Campus; well, he must be the only one. The lack of consultation with the local community and the local authority has been disgraceful. The community council, supported by several public meetings, has put forward constructive plans that accept that the site has to be developed but residentsmust be involved.
This has been an outstanding demonstration in local democracy but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears; hence resorting to legal action. Some commonsense is required by the council and Cala.
Ken Doran,
107 Jordanhill Drive,
Glasgow.
Alison Rowat referred to the fact that a study by the National Centre for Social Research had found East Dunbartonshire to be the best place for a woman to live in Britain (“Thinking twice about another day in our country’s paradise”, The Herald, September 14). What do these findings tell us about the men in that part of Scotland?
As someone living in that “paradise”, I hope that the real thing, if and when it comes, takes matters up a notch or two given, for example, the state of many roads and the implementation of shared space concepts.
Alison Rowat makes little of a major element that makes East Dunbartonshire a desirable place in which to stay. By that, I mean its proximity to Glasgow without being under its control.
Residents here have easy access to all that Glasgow provides in terms of culture, entertainment, sports facilities, retail outlets and miscellaneous services.
Glasgow, over the years when local government reorganisation came up, has expressed the aspiration, without success, to incorporate the “paradises” on its edges.
Alison Rowat does express the hope that the “joys of East Dunbartonshire” be spread around a little more. A commendable objective, but not one likely to be achieved soon.
Ian W Thomson,
38 Kirkintilloch Road,
Lenzie.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel