Milton view More parking headaches
Dear Editor, I note with interest from the article in The Advertiser that South Lanarkshire Council wishes to take over the role of issuing penalties for those drivers who park on pavements.
This is all very laudable but apart from the complexities of deciding when a motorist is causing an obstruction it would be nice if South Lanarkshire Council enforced the present parking/waiting regulations more efficiently.
Anyone frequenting the area around Kemp St, Quarry St and Gateside St will regularly see cars parked on yellow lines, double yellow lines, zigzag lines at pedestrian crossings and bus stops.
When a traffic warden appears the cars often magically disappear only to reappear when the warden moves on.
The 10-minute lapse between initiating a ticket and issuing one is truly a godsend to irresponsible drivers.
Perhaps this could be part of the amendment and clarification to the current legislation that should be addressed.
Being optimistic, perhaps South Lanarkshire Council could find the money to properly resource the Parking Warden service.
John L Rimmer(sen) Park Road Hamilton Dear Editor, I live in Brown Street Hamilton and there are some parking issues facing residents.
One problem is double parking.
The piece of land concerned belongs to the council.
I have emailed Councillor John Ross, who I must say has been more than helpful.
But I can only see this problem getting worse.
Martin Miller Hamilton Dear Editor, This summer marks 15 years since a Labour government introduced tax credits which have lifted millions out of poverty – an achievement I am proud of.
Yet today working poverty in Scotland stands at its highest since devolution with the number of households in poverty increasing by 150,000 since the SNP came to power.
Scottish Labour is campaigning to address these appalling statistics.
We are running a summer campaign focussing on specific actions which would make a significant difference. We want to see a real living wage of £10 an hour by 2020 and a ban on exploitative zero hour contracts.
We will ensure that those who are entitled to working tax credit and child tax credit receive it; currently £428 million is left unclaimed, and we promise to invest in education to prepare people for jobs for the future.
It is possible to reduce the number of people in working poverty across South Scotland, but sadly the Scottish Government refuses to use their powers to make the changes that are needed.
As part of the Scottish Labour team, I will continue the fight, not only to lift people out of poverty, but to protect our NHS which sees services so stretched that patient care is impacted.
I will also work to address the crisis in our education system where there are acute teacher shortages in our schools.
Indeed, this is a concern highlighted by The Children’s Commissioner who has recently called for an increase in teacher numbers.
I want a South Scotland that works for the many, not the few and I will not be distracted by the SNP’S unwavering yet misguided desire for another referendum.
I continue to see this quest as a distraction which dissipates energy from sorting the urgent challenges faced by too many of my constituents, which I have highlighted in this letter today.
Claudia Beamish, South Scotland Scottish Labour and Co-operative MSP