277 October 2017 - Gryffe Advertizer

4
the advertizer
This Month
Rona
You may immediately recognise the front cover photo as the
new and iconic Queensferry Crossing. My family was lucky
enough to get tickets for the ‘once in a lifetime’ Open Day to
walk across the new bridge which gave my daughter, Chloe, the
chance to take some fantastic photos, one of which adorns the front cover. On
the day, the weather was beautiful and everyone involved in marshalling and
security was most helpful, making the whole occasion feel very jolly. Buses took
us from outside The Gyle in Edinburgh to the south side of the bridge, where we
had about an hour to walk across to the north side. At each gantry there were
information boards with details of the bridge construction. Once on the other
side, we were bussed back to our starting point over the original road bridge,
giving us a fantastic view of the new bridge.
Following on from last month, I’m delighted to see that the seagulls are avid
readers of the magazine and they seem to have gone off to bother some other
community. I’m all for feeding the birds, but please remember not to leave food
out in the open for them as this seems to encourage the gulls to visit.
There’s nothing slower than watching paint dry! Other than sitting in the lengthy
traffic queues at Deafhillock roundabout. However, I timed it this morning and,
when I’d just missed a changing of the lights, surprisingly it only took 1min
40secs before I had a green for go. Maybe I just got lucky. Although, to be
honest, that short stationary spell still felt like a lifetime. Deafhillock roundabout
roadworks are still causing a lot of grief for drivers. Our Councillors are taking
note of our comments and hopefully the Council can apply some pressure to
the developers to get a move on and get it finished. Meantime, all I can suggest
is that you keep lobbying your local Councillors to keep them aware of your
concerns.
Staying on the theme of disruption, developers/builders are happy to show
us pretty architectural proposals of landscaped streets and houses, but the
reality is often upheaval and upset, certainly little or no benefit short-term or
even long-term for the existing residents. A prime example being the Gladman
Developments proposal for the fields aside the Knapps Loch in Kilmacolm.We
have further information on p12, and an article on p43 from the newly formed
Kilmacolm Greenbelt Alliance who encourage anyone concerned by this and
any other proposed developments to get in touch with them.
Gladman Developments seem to specialise in this sort of development and
are also behind the plans to build in the fields approaching Bridge of Weir from
Kilmacolm. Although the application has been refused by the Council, Gladman
has appealed and, following a site visit from the Reporters in August, the
evidence will now be reviewed and a decision is expected around November.
Running low? With no local petrol station we now need to make a journey just
to fill up. The nearest ones are almost all located at supermarkets with the
likely consequence that a trip to fill up also becomes a shopping trip, thus
depriving our own local shops of much needed trade. There are suggestions
of a new supermarket and petrol station on the east side of Bridge of Weir, but
that would be just as counter-productive for the retail core of the village. How
about saving the petrol facility that already exists at the former Bull’s Garage
and integrating this into any new development of that site? Hopefully some
common sense will prevail when our planners are considering the future.
Finally, I hope you’re sitting down as this month I am mentioning the ‘C’ word.
Yes, the season for Christmas Fayres is approaching - we’ve got a few already
mentioned in the village news. These are great for picking up Christmas
gifts and catching up with friends, and all for good causes, so
please support them if you can.
t: 01505 613340 07731 923970 e: info@advertizer.co.uk