OK. We’re calling this out. Received too many messages about this. If you’re a visitor coming to Blantyre this is the first sight you’ll be greeted by. Traffic islands and verges, neglected small parcels of land which have become overgrown, weed-infested eyesores!
Overgrown with invasive weeds and litter, the traffic islands at Auchinraith Roundabout at High Blantyre and many other places in this town, are starting to symbolise the failures of local authority management and maintenance.
Look at this photo for example. It just looks terrible. One reader described this as “a post apocalyptic scene from ‘I am Legend’, as if all life has stopped for years”.
This unchecked growth not only diminishes the aesthetic value of Blantyre but in some other locations also obscure traffic signs and hinder visibility, posing potential hazards to drivers and pedestrians alike. It’s time for the council to step up and own this spiralling, insidious decay and neglect and give us back a tidy, urban landscape we can at least say has had some attention.
Have your say. What areas in Blantyre have YOU seen which needs some attention?
As a visitor to Blantyre for many years now, I find the whole town drifting more into decay.
Whilst there are new shiny houses built each year and the town is expanding outward, maintenance issues are quite appalling all around town.
I have seen required weed control ignored ON EVERY STREET I have driven or walked. Even outside the entrance door areas at Kelvin Grove.
So many areas needing a paint job. Maybe some power washing to brighten things.
I don’t know who owns some of the remaining retail shops but owners need to live up to their responsibilities for both functional and aesthetic values. Maybe most are owned by the council, I don’t know. If not, the council still has a responsibility to enforce reasonable standards.
It seems many years of council mismanagement, no matter who are in the top jobs.
I see there is a Paul Manning currently CEO who has to solve an annual £26 million deficit for each of the next fiscal three years.
I hear talk that cuts to services are to be quite striking and additional fees to be imposed for garden waste removal.
I would urge Mr. Manning to show his dedication to the community he “serves” by taking a £15% pay cut from his fat £180,000/£190,000 salary, look to cut out (or reduce) the fat throughout his organisation as is done in the corporate world before cutting any services. With a £1 BILLION organisation and 16,000 employees, no-one will tell me there is no fat!
Corporations are beholding to their shareholders. Maybe if the multiple historical councils considered their citizens as their shareholders and LISTENED to them, they would get things done right. Not tolerated in industry, why is it being tolerated by a local government who are there NOT to serve themselves, but to serve their citizens?
Another couple of things and I’ll get off my soap box….
What is the function of the council Philanthropy Manager with a pay scale around £40,000/£45,000 annually?
I always thought being philanthropic there was money available to share to charities and needy causes.
Why are there so many road works all over Blantyre? I know this can be a difficult logistical issue, but so many?
As I prepare for my return to my adopted country, I hope this generates some more thought and as Forrest Gump concluded, “That’s all I have to say about that”!
Apologies…..in my comment post, I mentioned “Kelvin Grove”. This of course should be Devlin Grove!