West of Scotland Conservative MSP, and Helensburgh resident, Maurice Corry says he's backing plans to breathe new life into Helensburgh's skating pond.

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The skating pond at the top of Sinclair Street in Helensburgh has been a popular area for people to walk, relax and enjoy nature very accessibly.

Over the most recent years, however, it has been neglected.

I was approached last year with an idea to transform it back to an area where families and friends could once again utilise its full potential.

A popular competition, which attracts competitors from all over the world, is stone skimming. It has been determined that the skating pond would be ideal for this with a bit of work. Not only would this tidy the area up for everyone to enjoy - it would be another annual event to attract tourists to the town, helping to support local business.

READ MORE: Our children should be encouraged to walk to school

I WAS happy to hear that compensation, over and above the usual compensation scheme, was going to be offered to season ticket holders on lines that had been most affected.

I, like many other people, choose to use trains from Helensburgh, and have experienced delays, cancellations and station skipping on numerous occasions.

However, I am very disappointed to learn that this will not include the Helensburgh line. I have previously written to ScotRail’s CEO, Alex Hynes, regarding the inadequate service, the need to improve and the need to gain travellers’ confidence back.

In the past week we have heard it will take ScotRail until 2021 to meet punctuality targets – this is simply unacceptable. Travellers cannot be expected to endure both high fare rises and a substandard service.

I am asking the SNP government whether they will apply pressure to ScotRail to compensate customers, or indeed look at terminating the contract that quite obviously has been another SNP disaster.

READ MORE: Helensburgh's train service needs urgent improvement

THE Rest and Be Thankful has been an ongoing issue for years and can cause serious problems.

Last year saw this and I was proud to support a local petition and attend a meeting in Tarbet to discuss the options and preferences of local people and business owners.

A tunnel seems to be the preferred option: I support this fully and have meetings planned for the near future to continue the drive to find a permanent solution.