Road will upset lives of so many families
A big thanks to the man who handed in our wee Bichon Daisy to Avenues Vet in Woodside Avenue.
She escaped out our garden and was found wandering around the streets at Lidl’s in Rutherglen.
We are so glad to have her home, its only because she was microchipped that the vet knew where she was from. Rosemary Wilson, Bullionslaw Drive. I would to say a special thank you to Rev Milton of Cambuslang Parish Church, also David Thompson of Cambuslang Community Council and councillor Richard Tullet who made it possible for the dedication of a plaque in memory of my son Mark Henderson.
We would also like to thank family and friends and the congregation for their support at what was a very moving service.
To the ladies of the church for the tea coffee and sandwiches they supplied for everyone thank you very much Mrs Anna Wisner, (Mark’s mum). I would like to respond to Ronnie Cotterill’s email from last week about the Proposed Cathkin Relief Road.
As a resident whose property is directly adjacent to this park, it would greatly affect my family and I in a negative way if this road were to go ahead, therefore I am obviously strongly opposed to this road.
I appreciate that others reading this may share Mr Cotterill’s rather ill informed view, however unless this road directly affects you, your family and your home, in a negative way then I do not feel that you entirely understand where“we”the angry residents are coming from.
Firstly, I would like to point out to Mr Cotterill that this is not an“area of wasteland”as he so called it but that it is in fact a park. This is not just the view of us local residents, as the area was in fact officially turned into a park by South Lanarkshire Council in 2001. And whilst it may not be a park in the sense that Overtoun Park is, and is not maintained in the same way that Overtoun Park is, it is a park none the less.
Yes, it may be overgrown and yes it may have weeds, but to call it a wasteland is incorrect and suggests that it is not a valued, much utilised greenspace which it is. This is our park and we don’t want to lose it! My young children do play there actually and we frequently use the park for bike rides and walks, and even sledging in winter. To suggest that we“wouldn’t want (our) children playing there as there are drinking dens”is completely ridiculous. I wonder how long it has been since Mr Cotterill has been in the park (if ever)?
Secondly, I fail to see how the introduction of a road through a currently safe space is going to save lives as Mr Cotterill states. A road does the complete opposite of saving lives, it puts more lives at risk. And whilst I agree that the traffic lights on East Kilbride Road is a definite improvement – no parkland was destroyed in making those small changes to the current infrastructure. There is a huge difference between traffic calming measures (such as the introduction of traffic lights) and ploughing down a park to create an unnecessary road. And Fernhill Road has had traffic calming measures put in place at the shops, so as far as I am aware there are no children and pensioners being killed there.
Thirdly, I am angered by Mr Cotterill’s comments about Blairbeth Road being a school route and his implied inference that this road is necessary to keep the pupils of Burnside Primary safe. What about the pupils of Cathkin Primary and St Marks Primary who walk to school and use the park as a safe route to school? Or do they not matter as much as Burnside Primary? Blairbeth Road is one of the main thoroughfares in a local town – every town has them – I don’t understand why this proposed relief road is focussing on taking traffic away from a road which, in my opinion, does not have a congestion problem anyway.
Yes there may well be a “constant stream of traffic”as Mr Cotterill states, but since when did a constant stream become unmanageable? And there may well be issues around school drop off time, but surely that’s a different issue altogether, and those same parents will still be doing the school drop off even if the road were to go ahead. Wherever there is a school there will always be a build up of traffic due to parents dropping their kids off – no relief road will change that.
Lastly (although I could go on for quite a bit longer), I would like to point out to Mr Cotterill that“we”the local residents opposed to this road, are not being selfish as he so ludicrously states. “Build for the future……”? Whose future are we talking about here Mr Cotterill? Because it certainly isn’t for the future of any of the local residents directly affected in High Burnside, Blairbeth, Cathkin, Springhall or Fernhill. Why exactly does this relief road“build for the future?”
Trees provide oxygen, we need oxygen to live, therefore protecting this park builds for everyone’s future. This is the last remaining greenbelt space in the area and we want to protect it. Barbara Hay, Via Facebook.