Cash for roads upgrade

At a recent meeting of the North Local Area Partnership, it was announced that North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) has set aside £80,000 to upgrade the notorious stairways which connect Haugh Road to Glasgow Road.

A further £10,000 will be spent sprucing up the section of Rennie Road which the local authority adopted in June.

The issues in the Haugh Road area were highlighted in June last year when a 13-year-old girl was grabbed by a stranger.

A campaign to improve safety at the trouble hotspot followed, led by parent Cheryl Anderson.

She said: “I was so proud of the team and all the hard work that was put into making this campaign successful.

“We may not have got our CCTV that we originally started the fight for, we have however had the whole area opened up and now NLC have allocated money to have the stone stairs removed and the wooden stairs upgraded and fully lit.”

Lily Hackett, who joined the campaign, added: “We are delighted. It just goes to show, when people get together, these things can be done.”

The money will also provide a welcome boost to residents of Rennie Road, who have been in a state of limbo for nearly 10 years due to a dispute between themselves and the West of Scotland Housing Association.

That was settled at the beginning of summer when NLC took responsibility for the area.

Anne Russell, who has lived in the street for 40 years, said: “That’s about £1000 for every year we’ve been fighting then!

“We’re already noticing changes being made, it’s all for the benefit of the area. It’s good to know money has been allocated.”

Councillor Jean Jones said of the Haugh Road project: “ I am pleased that this project will come to fruition and as well as the community safety issue it also means that the area should be more accessible to everyone.”

As for the Rennie Road works, Councillor Jones added: “A slight improvement can already be seen with the council cutting the grass and the stairs now being repaired and we will work away to rectify years of repairs.”

A council spokesperson said: “In response to concerns raised by local people, the council’s local development programme has approved a spend of £80,000 to improve the surface of the pathways and stairs on Haugh Road.

“One set of steps will be removed and replaced completely, while the other will be upgraded and the entire surface renewed.”