Resignation: It was recently reported that I had resigned from the council’s administration and as vice chairman of the Helensburgh and Lomond Area Committee.

Unfortunately, a number of people have approached me and said that they understood that I had resigned from the council.

I would wish to make it clear that I have NOT resigned from the Council and remain a councillor for my Lomond North Ward, at least until the next local government elections in 2017.

I explained that the reasons for my decision were that I was having difficulty in attending meetings of the council’s administration as these meetings clashed with other meetings that I was required to attend in my capacity as a councillor.

Because of this clash, I was having very little input into the decisions of the Administration and had started to feel that I was only these to make up the numbers.

I was also unhappy with a number of the proposals in the administration’s budget that would have an adverse effect on my constituents which included cuts in the budgets for the primary schools within my ward and cuts to the library service.

Readers may recall that in 2010, when a previous Administration was threatening to close Rosneath, Kilcreggan and Luss primary schools within my ward, I was the only local councillor who refused to support this proposal and, as a result, I was thrown out of the administration at that time.

I believe that I should always try to put my constituents first and that has not changed.

I would therefore like to reassure all those living within my Lomond North Ward that I am still their councillor and will continue to put the needs of my constituents first.

New council offices: The new council offices on East Clyde Street were formally opened by Gordon Reid at the beginning of March.

Unfortunately, we still have the controversial “face” on the front of the building.

I previously tried to persuade the area committee to consider whether the face should be removed from the front of the building but, on a split vote, councillors decided to take no action.

As six months have now passed since this issue was discussed, I am now considering bringing a similar proposal to the area committee and it would be good to hear what the views of the public now are on this issue.