Published: Tuesday, 20th May, 2008 12:30
Burgh's fortunes over 50 years
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Eye on Millig always has an interesting story to tell and this week (May 8) is no exception.
We find that the Advertiser is celebrating 50 years serving the people of Helensburgh. How well they have served we leave to the readers to decide. What is more important is how the town has fared and has it improved, are the citizens living in a better town?
So let us take the advice of Leslie Maxwell and think about the paper for a moment and concentrate on its contents in this commemorative week.
The front page starts off with a problem at the peace camp. Well that is nothing new. We spent over £20 million in 2007 to give them the right to protest. After 20 years you would think they would learn that the decisions they want to overturn are not made at Faslane but at Westminster and that the residents have some rights to have a peaceful life. You wonder whose side the police are on and is that the sensible way to spend £20 million when so much needs to be done?
Mr Worms wants a Helensburgh Heritage Project. Well, Mr Worms this has been tried at least twice before and they all failed due to the lack of support from the council. Where do you think the money will come from? Do you really think the council will give up the Clyde Street School for a worthwhile project? Forty-four organisations had to find new accommodation when it was closed which will give you an idea of the interest they had and it has now been lying empty deteriorating ever since. It could, of course, be that as a listed building they are allowing it to get to such a state they will get permission to demolish it; an idea that has been used in the Burgh more than once.
Alan Reid is worried about the postal services. Who isn’t? They have been getting later year by year and reading the national press we could lose what we already have.
The councillors were concerned because they were not involved in the Lomond School development and it was on a green site. Is that not on the same green site that the same councillors recently gave planning permission to demolish a whole wood, remove the trees and build Houses? Well they are always on about the need for more houses so you would think that they should know that we also require facilities, or is it because something has got beyond their control? The same councillors are at present considering giving permission for more woods to be destroyed in the same area. So look out the fruit-bearing co-operation in Duchess Wood, the day is not far distant when the cry will be we need more houses and that is the only space and we need the jobs.
There is not much Conservation in this town, be it trees, areas, buildings or character.
Mr R F Morrison put his finger very succinctly in his letter and his idea of a committee sounds good but of course we already have such a committee whose job is to look after the interests of the populace and represent them to the councillors; it is called the Community Council.
Mr Morrison has only scratched the surface of the problems. He could have listed the fact that half of Helensburgh has no pavements, footpaths, kerbs or street drains. Of course, the pavements are private, that is until someone wants to walk on them or they require a place to put the light poles required by law and lay the services under this private land and being private they do not require to remove the litter and if anyone falls into the trench on your grass they will require to sue you as the council have no responsibility. They are not responsible for the water running off their road on to your private pavement, nor do they appear to have any responsibility to clear the street drains either. They have no money is one excuse but they have no interest either. We can get signs on the road and flashing at you, rumble strips and sleeping policemen; they can increase the councillors by a third etc, but they have no money to improve the infrastructure.
And of course we have the Helensburgh Partnership who have been considering the problems of Helensburgh for the past two years, we understand, since we have received no information otherwise nor recommended solutions.
To stop 75 per cent of the area shopping outside the town we require a supermarket here of the kind that draws the public out of town. Why do we not try and get a popular company to build a two-storey supermarket with a two-level car park underneath on the site of the Sinclair Street car park it would also have direct access to Princess Street to allow shopping in the specialised shops in town.
Why do we not investigate burning our rubbish to produce energy instead of filling holes with it, some day we will require an alternative as you cannot keep building houses, increasing the population with the resultant increase in services and continue as we are. It has been mooted for years about moving the swimming pool. We now have the opportunity to site it in the old school grounds and make that area a sports and leisure area for the young, but no, the council want to build houses creating more problems than it will solve.
We can be like the ostrich or we can admit we have problems, list them and try and find solutions or we can continue as we have done for the last 30 years to my knowledge, just keep talking. Think then of the interesting stories that Eye of Millig will have in another fifty years to celebrate the paper’s 100th birthday, assuming we have not all sunk in our own glaur.
A N MacInnes
Address supplied
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