THIS week's Councillor Column is written by Ellen Morton, the depute leader of Argyll and Bute Council and Liberal Democrat councillor for Helensburgh and Lomond South.

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I should like to congratulate the volunteers from the Helensburgh and Gareloch Horticultural Society for the planting and the flower tubs which make Helensburgh Central station look really great just now.

Community work like this makes an important contribution to the quality of local life and will be even more important in the future as council budget cuts bite even harde

. So thanks to all involved, in particular to the lady who grows the blooms in her own greenhouse for the rest of the team to plant out. Similar thanks are due to the volunteers in Cardross who also work hard to make the station look great.

If I think the stations looks great I certainly cannot say the same for the state of the railway bridges across Helensburgh town centre.

I know Councillor Aileen Morton has made repeated attempts to get Network Rail to paint these bridges but the answer always is that they are safe.

They may be safe but they are a mess and Network Rail refuses to listen to the repeated complaints over many years by numerous residents and politicians.

Network Rail’s attitude is unacceptable and the bridges detract from all the work that has been done to improve the town.

I have also had concerns raised about the lack of lighting at Cardross Station in the morning.

The first train goes out at 6.04am but the station lights are not switched on till 6am so travellers are groping their way in pitch darkness if they arrive early for the train.

I am pursuing this issue – surely the lights should be on earlier for safety.

I am not aware of this issue elsewhere or at other times but let me know if there are similar problems elsewhere.

* It was disturbing this week that the Scottish Government Reporter in Edinburgh overturned the planning decision to refuse the building of two houses in Cardross.

The application was in breach of the greenbelt policy, and of our Local Development Plan approved by the Reporter recently.

The key issue here is not whether or not people were in support of or against the application - the key issue is that, yet again, the Scottish Government is interfering in local decision making and centralising everything to Edinburgh.

One person has been given the right to overturn a local decision made properly after due process was followed.

Whether it is the police service, education, health services or planning it is clear that centralisation is the SNP agenda and local involvement in decisions is of no importance.