Extra Letters (May 23 edition)

Parking woes need solution

I AM a Clarkston resident directly impacted by the reinforcement of parking restrictions. Myself and my neighbours intend to complain to the council formally.

We have drafted a letter k and I intend to get as many of my neighbours to sign as possible.

I have attended this month’s Clarkston community council meeting with neighbours, and we intend to go to this week’s Clarkston BID parking forum in Clarkston Halls, and next month’s community council meeting. Suffice to say, we have galvanised on this issue!

The council is playing political games here, claiming the issue is the decriminalisation of parking. This is not the issue — it’s that the parking restrictions are outdated and need to be scrapped.

It is difficult to understand why these measures have been deemed necessary when, as residents living on the front line, we are unaware of any material issues that the regulations seek to address.

It is a fact of life at peak times traffic volumes increase, and regular users of Busby Road and Clarkston Road are well aware of these volumes and plan their journey accordingly.

Both myself and neighbours have no wish to see increased volumes of traffic using

Clarkston and Netherlee as rat runs.

The dual carriageway was formed in 1969 and I think it is safe to assume that neither the Carmmunock/ Castlemilk by-pass nor the Eaglesham by-pass (or indeed the M77) existed at that time. Those roads should and do take commuter traffic away from built up areas both for safety reasons and to ease congestion and reduce journey times to work.

My point is (ignoring the premise that police are now freed to pursue real criminals): what benefits accrue to the residents and businesses in Clarkston through ERC’s enforcement?

I suspect we collectively agree that, other than a revenue-raising exercise and any other hidden agenda, the proposition that enforcing parking restrictions contributes to sustainable, economic growth is nonsensical.

I understand that a business case was submitted by the council to central government proposing to transfer the enforcement of parking control.

One wonders why 1) the transfer of this “service” was deemed necessary in the first place and 2) why there wasn’t a consultation phase in or around this time.

The council say they consulted extensively. Well apparently that consultation didn’t stretch to businesses and residents affected, otherwise why has it come as such a surprise to all of us? My question is who did they consult?

Lynsey Cochrane, Clarkston

Flood relief

THE residents in Robslee Drive/Treeburn Avenue/Groveburn Avenue learned, with relief, last week that Scottish Water have finally apologised and are committed to resolving the drainage problem which has caused disruption to residents in the area for over 20 years. (Re: Just water under the bridge, May 16)

Stewart Maxwell MSP must be thanked for his support and communication with Scottish Water on behalf of residents.

Name and address supplied

You said it...

THE Southside Festival may have suffered from the less-than-glorious Scottish summer but here at The Extra, we managed to find shelter long enough to post to Facebook and Twitter — and it seems we weren’t the only ones.

Those of you who braved the weather outside were in touch throughout the weekend.

@GlasgowFoodie was disappointed by the wet weather, lamenting: “To think how it was last year”, but commenting on our Facebook snap, Stephen Morrison remained optimistic, adding: “Great picture — hopefully better and not wetter tomorrow (Sunday).”

Stephen was granted his wish, as the rain eased off in time for Sunday’s headliners — turn to pages 6 and 7 for more photos from the weekend event.

Other stories catching your eye included last week’s charity story, on brave mum Lorna Ferrier, who tackled the 10k in memory of son Andrew as he passed away eight days before the event.

Community page Clarkston.com shared the story, commenting: “What a wonderfully brave lady. Our thoughts are with her family just now” — a sentiment which many of you agreed with.

And from last week’s stories to ongoing issues, as @FromNikki tweeted a complaint which The Extra has covered in the past.

She commented: “I’ve just had to cut short our exploration of Eastwood Park due to the amount of dog poo. I’m fuming. Dog owners need to take responsibility!”

We’ll be looking into it for next week. Meanwhile, share your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter, by emailing Gillian (link above) or by sending a letter to the address at the top of the page.