This week's letter page includes opinions on the pierhead development and the closure of East Clyde Street due to absent landlords

**********

With reference to your report and comment on the unsafe building in East Clyde Street (Helensburgh Advertiser, July 19), we own a property on East Clyde Street.

Most owners understand the care of the property is their responsibility.

We, as local owners, were well aware of our duty when we took this on, and try to allow for unexpected expenses – something which is not always easy.

However, the reality in our case is that out of six owners, major repair work will not go ahead as three owners (absentee landlords) of the other flats have either not replied to the estimate sent to them or have not agreed to pay.

The damage from flooding won’t go away and indeed in all probability will reoccur.

The two owners on the ground floor will ultimately pay the price for their refusal to pay, and the cost will most certainly go up.

I fail to understand why owners appear reluctant to maintain their investments while continuing to receive rent from tenants and/or the local authority via Housing Benefit.

I predict more road closure as the problem increases with the age of these buildings and the lack of effort in maintaining them.

It seems we now have to wait for the next major problem to occur while others ignore the warning signs.

A. West

East Clyde Street, Helensburgh

I cannot agree more with John Black's letter (Advertiser Comment, July 19), regarding average speed cameras.

Do average speed cameras save lives or lead to other problems?

There is nothing worse than encountering a slow moving line of traffic usually caused by some (let's say, elderly) driver who is actually travelling about 5mph below speed limit

This has a knock on effect to following vehicles. Cars at the rear of this 'conga line' could find themselves travelling at around 20mph.

Frustration builds and normally level-headed motorists succumb to trying to overtake.

I have been driving safely for nearly 40 years now and believe that traffic, if allowed to move freely, without restriction on speed can be perfectly safe at speeds up to national average.

Please let the proper, sensible motorist carry on their way. Or will this cause a massive dent in the government's coffers?

Let's all, having safely passed our driving tests, be allowed to show sensible speeds on our roads. As adults I think we all know what is a safe speed and what is not.

Alex Winter

38 Colquhoun Street, Helensburgh

Your various items suggesting average speed cameras on the A82 would be useless in monitoring motorcycles as they do not require to have a front number plate and that is what is registered on camera. Think again!

Gordon Murdoch

Via Facebook

Those interested in the pierhead development here in Helensburgh should take a short trip to the new leisure centre in Clydebank as it has been selected for an award for excellence.

It has a much larger catchment area than Helensburgh, and is therefore considerably larger, but its aim is exactly the same.

The place is well organised and one can have a guided tour on request.

The most noticeable thing when we went, one ordinary weekday afternoon, was that the pool areas were packed with people, from toddlers to grandparents, and the fun pools were the most popular.

The rest of the building’s facilities were almost empty, apart from an occasional user on a fitness machine.

The exception was the cafe with south facing views over the Clyde and nice country scenery – a pleasant place to have a meal and a convenient place to wait for families to reunite after their various exercises.

An outside space adjacent to the cafe was not planned – instead people were using the Clyde walkway in the good weather.

The architecture of the building itself again is very different from the Helensburgh situation, as the Clydebank building has to compete with a large college, office buildings and future plans for a hotel on the same site, whereas Helensburgh has the finest open site in Scotland, with potentially stupendous views.

Tony Vogt

33 East Argyle Street, Helensburgh

I wish people would stop criticising Donald Trump. I personally like him – he’s very entertaining, he’s the only world leader with any charisma out there, and he’s got the guts to speak his mind. I welcomed his recent visit to Scotland.

He’s also trying to talk peace with President Putin, and that can only be a good thing.

Our country, Great Britain, needs someone like him. The world needs him.

Gabrielle Mundie

Via email