NOTEBOOK by BILL HEANEY
They say writers shouldn’t run down their own home town.
But in West Dunbartonshire you would be more than justified for doing that.
The pictures here are of the village green in Rhu, a tiny village down the Firth of Clyde.
The pictures in my Notebook column today are of Dumbarton and Vale of Leven.
West Dunbartonshire is a disgrace. What’s the point in keeping quiet about that?
We should be shouting it from the rooftops. The people we are paying to keep our towns quiet and peaceful and looking good are letting us down. Our public services are pathetic.
They aren’t worth the the paper the invoice their council tax bill is printed on.
One of the few things the council might have done well was to make Levengrove Park more amenable, more pleasant for local people and visitors to take a seat and enjoy the views out to Dumbarton Castle, the River Clyde and the Renfrewshire Hills.
But they mucked it all up when they started footering around for the money to finance the Pavilion Cafe.
That’s Pavilion with just one L by the way.
Then they sacked the folk they were supposed to be helping, leaving them high and dry and without the key in the door of a facility that was highly appreciated by the local public.Thankfully, an ambitious young woman has re-opened the business. I hope it’s been a success so far. And that it continues.
But what dunderheids and donkeys we have occupying the council chamber in Church Street.
Ask which lot are the worst, Labour or SNP? You couldn’t put a Rizla cigarette paper between them.
One’s as bad as the other. Imagine using Health and Social Care cash to run a cafe when the NHS needs all the money it can get poured into it.
Take a look at Rhu in the pictures here. They have a wonderful floral display this year bursting with summer vibrant colour at Rhu Village Green.
We used to have a floral clock in the Park and another in West Bridgend.
Local people became so fed up with the space being neglected that they have done a DIY job on it, albeit an excellent one. Good for them.
For the green-fingered amongst you, this year’s selection of bedding plants skilfully planted in Rhu are begonia, marigolds, lobelia, and alyssum.
Argyll and Bute Council who halted their own nursery growing amenity in 2021 nevertheless take part in a vital role and continue to provide summer plants by sourcing them externally.
The villagers are happy. They’ve sent their thanks and congratulations to Mark the Council gardener for his work and artistic displays for them all to enjoy. Good on them.