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Glasgow Times
a day ago
- Automotive
- Glasgow Times
New 20mph speed limit introduced in East Dunbartonshire
The change, which comes into effect on September 8, is part of a wider move by East Dunbartonshire Council to reduce traffic speeds and improve road safety. It follows public consultation earlier this year, during which residents were invited to share their views on the proposal. The new speed limit will apply to the entire length or part of the length of more than 300 roads across the town. This includes all residential streets as well as main roads such as the A739 Switchback Road/Bearsden Road (northbound and southbound), the A809 Drymen Road, and the A81 Milngavie Road. A full list of affected roads can be found on the East Dunbartonshire Council website. Any person wishing to question the validity of the 20mph speed limit order or any provision within it because it is not within the powers conferred by the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984, or that any requirement of that Act or any relevant regulation has not been complied with, may make an application to the Court of Session within six weeks of July 24. In a separate development, a temporary road closure will be in place on Station Road, Bearsden, from August 4 to September 22. The closure is required to allow for works to be carried out on or near the road. It will affect the section of Station Road between its junction with the A809 Drymen Road and its junction with the access to the private car park for the Co-operative Food Shop. During this period, no vehicles will be permitted to use this section of the road, except for those engaged in the works. Alternative routes will be signposted and will include the A809 Drymen Road, Roman Road, the A81 Milngavie Road, MacFarlane Road, Canniesburn Toll Roundabout, Canniesburn Road, Pendicle Road, and Station Road. Temporary traffic signals, incorporating a pedestrian crossing facility, will also be in operation on the A809 Drymen Road between its junction with Station Road and its junction with Ledcameroch Road. These will be in place from August 4 to September 22 and will be manually controlled between 7am and 7pm each day. The council has warned that the use of temporary traffic signals may result in delays to traffic in the area. More details of the road closure and alternative routes can be found on the public notice portal here:
Press and Journal
17-07-2025
- Business
- Press and Journal
Findhorn beach huts: What's it like for the people living a 'hut life'?
Manda Stretch is a late adopter of hut life – but she says it's one of the best decisions she has ever made. The 74-year-old happily describes herself as 'a bit woo-woo' (she lives in Findhorn eco village and does a bit of meditation). Manda ended up with a shiny new beach hut – and the story of how she got here involves 'the call of the sea'. Her story is just one of dozens of hutters at Findhorn – and many more across the north and north-east. Some people buy to live the dream, some to entertain the grandchildren. Others let them out on AirBnB. Let's take a look inside hut life, with owners and developers… Recently, there have been headlines about the cost of buying a beach hut and a shock rise in fees at Hopeman. But on a sunny day in Findhorn, any controversy seems a world away from this idyllic 100metre stretch of brightly-coloured huts. Findhorn is an intriguing old/new version of beach huts. The beach had a thriving hut community in the 1930s, 1940s and into the 1950s. Now, a local company are well into the process of building and selling 30 huts. More than 20 are already up and 'inhabited'. Findhorn Holdings Ltd, owned by Sophie McCook, had their share of challenges to get the development over the line. A petition was raised to stop them being built in the first place and it was a fight that got as far as the Court of Session. Ian Sutherland McCook, architect, developer and Sophie's husband, has become the agent and official spokesman for the beach huts company. Kinloss couple Ian and Sophie's Findhorn beach huts plan came from hearing about Novar Estates selling off land in the area. A 100-yard stretch of the beach was purchased, with a vision to re-create the beach hut community of the 1930s-1950s. By the mid-2010s, the plan was becoming a reality. Ian said: 'There was some genuine opposition and genuine concerns that the huts might spoil the nature of the beach and detract from it. 'Our view was that there had been beach huts there before that were very popular and very heavily used. 'I just felt a family facility like beach huts would be an asset, not a liability.' Ian feels that has been borne out by the uptake of the huts and even thinks they acted as catalyst for other amenities – a motorhome park and coffee vans, to name but two. Ian added: 'Now, if you Google Findhorn, one of the first images that comes up is the beach huts.' So is there such a thing as a typical beach hut owner? Let's meet a few of them… Owning a beach hut might not have come until Manda was in her 70s, but it had been a childhood dream of sorts. The B&B owner and grandmother came to Findhorn about 22 years ago from West Yorkshire. She bought her Findhorn beach hut about three years ago. She said: 'I have very early memories of my aunt having a beach hut at St Anne's in Lancashire. 'When I was away on a winter trip to Thailand recently, I got a huge wave of nostalgia.' Manda came home preoccupied with renting a hut and Ian was the obvious first port of call. She got two weeks rent of an already-furnished hut – but within two days, she was sold (and so was the hut). Manda added: 'I phoned him up and said I cannot possibly move out, I'll have to buy it. And that was it. 'It's like a deep soul calling thing – the call of the sea. It was an inner drive and instinct.' Since then, Manda has made the most of her new place. Manda reckons she uses it at least twice a week ('as long as it's not raining') and her two grandchildren who live locally (she has three altogether) love it. She invites friends for picnics, singalongs and cherry stone spitting contests (it's exactly what it sounds like). She said: 'I might take my lunch down there. I've got a little camping gas cooker and I make a cup of tea, I open the doors and I sit and listen to Radio Four or I just have a little meditate.' Has it been worth it for Manda? She said: 'It's wonderful – the best thing I've done in my elder years. 'It's like a friend, always waiting for me. That's how it feels. No questions asked.' Gertrud Mallon and family own Number Nine Findhorn Beach. They make the most of it – but also share the love with others. Gertrud said: 'We love Findhorn and the beach hut is a family base for us. 'We use it all year round, whether it's for heating up after the New Year's Day 'dook' or for the summer holidays. 'We have a big family who all love coming here and we enjoy bringing friends, too.' At the times when Gertrud and co aren't using the beach ourselves, it's available to rent through Airbnb. Gertrud added: 'It's really special falling asleep to the sound of the waves and waking up to a beautiful sunrise.' Beach huts at Findhorn aren't a new thing, as these pictures from the past show. Ian, who runs 1 Architects, said: 'I just liked the idea that there had been beach huts there before. 'These huts are owned and used by people who live locally – they're not holiday homes.' Two of the huts still to be completed will be given to the community in the form of the Findhorn Village Conservation Company. Ian said: 'From day one, we said that we would make sure there was a community benefit, a long-term gain to the community.' Manda says 'go for it'. Ian and Sophie believed in them so much that they invested in building 30 of the things. But why should people spend their hard-earned cash on a beach hut? Ian said: 'For a family, it's just a massively enriching investment – there is no better experience than being down there and sitting on the beach with a drink in your hand and just listening to the sea. 'It's therapeutic and tranquil.' And what about the hut community at Findhorn specifically? Ian laughed: 'They're all unhinged. 'They're a bit like train spotters or stamp collectors – they really, really love what they've got and what they're doing. 'They're a remarkably pleasant, amicable, self-supporting bunch. We've got a WhatsApp group and everyone is always helping each other.' As Manda said: 'For those just looking on from the outside, it's £32k for a wooden shed with no windows. 'But it's so much more than that – it adds a dimension to your life that you don't really realise until it's there.'
Daily Record
16-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
NHS Forth Valley face court action threat over continued FOI issues
The health board have been issued with an "action plan" to resolve ongoing issues with waiting times on compliance with Freedom of Information requests - or face being possible action at the Court of Session. NHS Forth Valley chiefs have been threatened with unprecedented court action over its failure to comply with Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. In a letter addressed to the health board's chief executive Ross McGuffie, the Scottish Information Commissioner David Hamilton is heavily critical of efforts to tackle a continued backlog of late responses - and urges the authority to follow an 'action plan' moving forward. Mr Hamilton said his office initially opened an intervention into NHS Forth Valley in November 2023 after it reported a failure to respond to 51 per cent of requests within the timeframe of 20 days. The intervention was escalated in October last year after those performance issues weren't improved and a meeting was then arranged in March where the lack of progress was raised - and extra time given to make improvements. However, Mr Hamilton says he still remains 'concerned' over the progress made - and has now demanded the health board provide his team with an action plan to respond to an average of more than 90 per cent of requests within the 20 day limit by the end of this year. A lack of positive action could prompt Mr Hamilton to make the bombshell move of promoting 'enforcement action' against NHS Forth Valley - including a referral to the Court of Session for contempt of court. In the letter, Mr Hamilton writes: 'This is a highly unusual step, and one that we have never had to resort to in the context of intervention work, but I will have no hesitation to issue an Enforcement Notice if I do not see a significant improvement in FOI performance in the timeframes stipulated.' Alongside the action plan, he requires the health board to take a series of further steps including a 'detailed strategy' for handling backlogged requests by mid-August - and the backlog entirely eradicated by the end of the year. Urging NHS Forth Valley to make the appropriate arrangements, Mr Hamilton - head of the group tasked with enforcing FOI legislation - said: 'I hope this serves as the wake-up call that NHS Forth Valley need. 'Their FOI response times over the last 18 months have been terrible. 'There can of course be reasons for glitches in performance, but this has been far too prolonged. It is up to the board to grasp the issues and to properly resource and support its staff in fulfilling these statutory duties.' In response, an NHS Forth Valley spokeswoman said: 'We fully accept that our performance in responding to FOI enquiries is not where it needs to be and efforts continue to improve local response times and reduce delays. 'A number of additional staff have been recruited to help increase capacity and work is already underway to address the requirements outlined in the Scottish Information Commissioner's letter, including the development of a detailed action plan. 'We are committed to making the improvements necessary and will continue to work closely with the Commissioner's office to keep them updated on progress.'
The Herald Scotland
13-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
There's a price for gentrification. I've met the people paying it
It turned out that on the other side was a family who very much disagree with the theory that the new bridge and the flats and the regeneration is 100% good for Govan. One of the people from the council said to me that gentrification wasn't part of the picture with the bridge and the flats because the development was bringing in people with a bit of money in their pockets to support the services and wasn't displacing a community. The Stringfellow family, the family living on the other side of the fence near the bridge, beg to differ. The bottom line is that Glasgow City Council want to expand the development of the Govan side of the bridge and want the Stringfellow family off the site so they can build more flats and landscape the area. The Stringfellows – who are travellers and make their living, or used to, from taking their rides and shows round Scotland – say they've been on the site for more than 40 years and should have the right to remain. I say 'used to make their living' because the family say the council blocked off the exit at the site, meaning the Stringfellows can't get their trucks in and out so effectively can't work. The situation between the two sides is pretty tense it has to be said and will come to a head in September when the council's attempt to evict the Stringfellows reaches the Court of Session. The council argues a straightforward commercial lease applies therefore the family can be evicted with 28 days' notice, but the Stringfellows' lawyers will argue that not giving the family the same rights as other council tenants is discrimination based on the fact they don't live in a house. They also argue that the youngest member of the family, who's five, has protection under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. I went to visit the family the other week and it's obvious the situation is taking its toll. The patriarch Jimmy, who I liked a lot even though he wasn't taking any nonsense from me, told me he had 'stainless steel skin' and was up for the fight. But his health isn't what it was and his daughter Chanel said the case had aged her parents. She said her mum Diane cries and cries at night because she doesn't know where she's going to be; she doesn't know if her family is about to be split up. Read more Will the 'Clydeside Clearance' go ahead? A court is about to decide | The Herald Do not believe the middle-class moaning about private schools No-shows. Screamers. And locked doors. Are our social norms breaking down? Obviously, court cases cannot be decided on emotions alone but I genuinely do not understand why the council is so insistent on this one. The Stringfellows have lived in their Govan yard for 44 years and there's a lot of support for them in the community. It's also striking that just across the river in the transport museum there are exhibits celebrating Glasgow's travellers and yet here is the council seeking to evict travellers from their homes. We either respect their non-traditional way of life or we don't. The case the council is making seems to be that one family shouldn't be able to stand in the way of a development that will benefit many more people and improve Govan and I do understand that new flats, and hopefully new businesses, will be good for the area. The man from the council told me the development of the bridge area isn't gentrification because a community isn't being displayed. But the truth is that an important part of the community absolutely is being displaced. The Stringfellows want to stay where they are in Govan and the council is telling them they can't. What's particularly frustrating is that I think a compromise is possible. I'm sure Jimmy isn't always easy to deal with, but he showed me plans they'd had drawn up by an architect that would allow the development to go ahead, albeit on a slightly reduced scale, and allow the family to stay where they are. The council say they've looked at the plans and they aren't feasible. But most of the land the Stringfellows live on wouldn't be built on anyway so the question here is one of proportion: is it proportionate to evict the Stringfellows when most of the flats could be built anyway, or built elsewhere? If we respect the right of the Stringfellows to live the way they want to, and if we respect the diverse history of Govan and the history of travellers, the answer must be no. Jimmy Stringfellow at home in Glasgow. (Image: Colin Mearns) So, despite what the man from the council said to me, this does look like the downside of gentrification. There have definitely been some great improvements in the area – the renovation of the shop fronts, the restoration of the library and gates in Elder Park, and the bridge itself, all of these things have been good for a part of Glasgow that has great potential because it was largely spared most of the big 1960s planning disasters that decimated other working-class communities in the city. So let's not get it wrong now. And it's still not too late to introduce a bit of compassion into the process. The council say they've made exhaustive attempts to engage with the family without success and that they've proposed a number of alternative sites that would allow them to continuing living in caravans as they do at the moment, and all of that may be true. But answer me this. Have they really tried to put themselves in the place of the family? Have they imagined what it might be like to feel, as Jimmy put it to me, caged in like monkeys at the zoo? The Stringfellows aren't opposed to the development and regeneration of Govan, they're just asking for a bit of respect for the way they live and the right to stay in the place that's been their home for more than 40 years. I don't think that's unreasonable And I don't think their eviction is necessary. Let them stay.
Glasgow Times
02-07-2025
- Automotive
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow law firm representing claimants in group action
Thompsons Solicitors, based in Wellington Street, is acting for individuals and businesses in the case against several Ford companies. The action relates to alleged use of defeat devices in Ford diesel vehicles manufactured to Euro 5 or Euro 6 emissions standards, excluding Euro 6d and Euro 6d Temp. The devices are claimed to have unlawfully reduced the effectiveness of the vehicles' nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions control systems, causing loss and damage to the pursuers. The full public notice can be viewed at Read more: Man charged with assault and theft after incident Proceedings have been brought by Graeme Hamilton, acting as the representative party on behalf of the group. The case is being heard in the Court of Session. The action is being brought against Ford Motor Company, Ford Motor Company Limited, Fordwerke Gmbh, Ford Motor Company of Australia Pty Limited, Ford Retail Limited, FCE Bank Plc, and ALD Automotive Limited. Anyone who has not previously made a claim in the group proceedings but wishes to do so is invited to contact Thompsons Solicitors. The firm can be reached by email at mbemissions@ or by post at Patrick McGuire, Thompsons Solicitors Scotland, 70 Wellington Street, Glasgow, G2 6UA.
