Readers’ letters

Report flawed

Dear Ed, – I am pleased that Janet Moxley and the Friends of the Burn Braes have raised awareness of the potential problems in the Burn Braes by sending in a photograph of a flooded Mill Rd.

Biggar, in common with other areas of Clydesdale, badly needs more social housing and, whilst I am delighted that these houses are being built, the Rowhead Quarry location is certainly not ideal. Neither of the road accesses have pavements; both are narrow and Mill Road through the Burn Braes has no street lighting. In addition, the junction with Carwood Rd is potentially hazardous.

As has been previously reported in the pages of Gazette, I have on two separate occasions argued unsuccessfully at the Planning Committee for road safety improvements to be carried out as a condition of planning consent being granted and could not even get a seconder for my motion.

I have the greatest respect for the competence of South Lanarkshire’s roads engineers but on this occasion I fear that the report presented to committee was flawed and I have made my views clear.

Biggar Community Council is close to completing a proposed scheme of road safety improvements for the area to be presented to the roads department for consideration and their endeavours have my wholehearted support.

Other individuals and groups within Biggar are also actively working and making their views known to the council so there can be no doubt in official circles of local opinion on this issue. Unfortunately only a small number of people made their views known at the planning application stage.

I will continue to put on whatever pressure I can to have changes made and welcome whatever support is available to achieve a commonsense conclusion that reflects the road safety concerns of residents.

To this end I have requested that the council’s road safety team carry out an assessment as to whether the route meets the criteria to be declared a “safe walk to school route”. – Yours etc.,

CLLR HAMISH STEWART,

Biggar.

Quarry quarrel

Dear Ed, – I am amazed at the level of bias in your reporting of the recent South Lanarkshire Council planning consent for Paterson’s at Dunduff Quarry.

This goes alongside the apparent failure of Councillors and MSPs (and Ministers) to adequately get a full perspective on the current traffic situation before taking sides in the argument – to my knowledge not one visited Boghead to canvass residents there.

Let’s put this into perspective:The houses in Boghead (the village that’s never mentioned) face directly on to the pavement and road with, for some, space for a car in front of the house.

All lorries accessing the quarry from the East have to pass through Boghead.

Compare this with the houses in Lesmahagow in your picture – the ones you can’t see because they are set far enough back from the road to be protected. There is no comparison.

Likewise, you are incorrect in implying that the lorries will pass THROUGH Lesmahagow.

They will travel less than half a mile through the outskirts of the town – nowhere near the centre – unlike Kirkmuirhill where the lorries pass along the main shopping area.

The children walking to Milton Primary School have more protection than children walking to Blackwood, St John’s and the Bent. Besides, I rarely see primary children walking the road – they seem to be chauffeured judging by the hold ups outside the school at leaving time.

I think it would help readers to know that articles in the Gazette have been fully researched and are objective in their outlook and that a loss for some people may be a significant gain for others. I remain to be convinced. – Yours etc.,

RICHARD HAWORTH,

Strathaven Road,

Boghead.

Paterson passed

Dear Ed, – Well, it has happened. The planning application by Paterson has been passed by our illustrious councillors. No surprise there.

There is no surprise at the response by the residents of Blackwood/Kirkmuirhill who have had to put up with this inconvenience for some time.

Where has Councillor Manson’s voice been during this period as I have not seen him organising protests to have the Paterson traffic slow down to 20mph past the schools or have them follow the traffic rules on Thornton Road to give way to traffic when instructed?

Oh, no, they are the big boys who give way to nothing as I witnessed at the junction of Thornton Road and Carlisle Road.

While waiting on Thornton Road, intending to head south on Carlisle Road, I had to take dog’s abuse from the Paterson driver who was travelling north at speed and was unable to negotiate the turn, blamed me for his driving, stating I was too near the junction and he had priority coming off a main road. I didn’t know until then that Lord Beeching worked for Paterson as the driver thought he owned the road.

So the people of Lesmahagow will have to fight on.

I am pleading with the public to show their support through the community council as the Paterson situation will only be the thin edge of the wedge.

If we do not show some sort of solidarity and demand that our locally elected representatives report and meet with the public and highlight planning issues that will and do at present affect the local area.

It will be interesting to see how the planning applications, similar to the proposed Incinerator are dealt with.

If they create jobs it’s in the bag and left to our locally elected representatives to fight against same. – Yours etc.,

JIM SMALL,

Secretary,

Lesmahagow Community Council.

X-ray pole-axed

Dear Ed, – For several years I and others have campaigned for an X-ray facility to be set up in Lanark to help meet the needs of people in Clydesdale.

Our wishes, however, have been completely disregarded by policy makers at NHS Lanarkshire who have declared their intention of centralising x-ray facilities in Monklands and Hairmyres Hopsitals which, according to their spokesman, (Gazette, October 27) have ‘the technology’ and can ‘provide care more person-centrered’ radiology services than any other hospitals in the whole county.

With the replacement a few years ago of Law Hospital by Wishaw General Hospital, patients from Clydesdale, with fractures or suspected fractures, including the elderly and or infirm, have had to travel in all kinds of weather in uncomfortable buses long distances over pot-holed roads to Wishaw to be x-rayed.

Now in future patients from Clydesdale will have to travel even further to reach Monkland Hospital or Hairmyres Hospital.

It beggars belief and confirms my fear that patient welfare in Clydesdale is bottom of the list for NHS Lanarkshire policy makers.

When, I wonder, will our local parliamentary representatives at Holyrood and Westminster wake up to this? – Yours etc.,

WILLIAM W GROVES

Staikhill, Lanark.