Milngavie and Bearsden residents raise concerns over housing, town centres and transport

The public consultation phase of East Dunbartonshire ?Council’s Local Development Plan has attracted strong opinions from residents.

The council asked residents for their views on the most important planning issues for their area, such as new housing, regeneration of town centres, and improvements to transport infrastructure.

Of those respondents, who also shared their opinions with the press, many of them have shown significant concern about the future of Bearsden, with issues such as air quality in places such as Bearsden Cross coming to the fore.

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Professor Michael Hitchman said: “I am working at the moment on data freely available on the web about air pollution at Bearsden Cross and which raise serious questions about levels of the debilitating pollutants NO2 and PM2.5.

“I will be submitting my comments to the EDC by the response deadline for LDP2.”

Stuart Christie added: “It appears the recent changes to Milngavie Road has resulted in more congestion and engine idling rather than its plan of improving air quality by encouraging residents to use bicycles, when maybe that could have been done by drawing a simple line down the wide empty pavement on the far side of the road, away from parked cars and with hardly any pedestrians – cutting congestion and allowing a road wide enough for emergency vehicles to work through?

“Are there any statistics to show if there has been an increase in people using bicycles since the investment or  to show how many cyclists actually use the new cycle lane vs the number that now use the slaloming main road? It would also be interesting to know if anyone has taken pollution readings along this stretch before and after the changes to provide concrete evidence on whether it has had the desired effect on air quality.

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“It appears to me as a new resident the obvious answer to the current pollution issues would be to increase bus services in the area, ensure buses are restricted on the pollution they’re allowed to pummel into the air and to increase parking facilities and train services to encourage residents to leave their cars and ride in to town.

“I would respectfully request that NO further properties are allowed to be built until these issues are prioritised and resolved. Green fields are essential for healthy living and for local wildlife and if any more of these fields are sacrificed, council would be giving a clear message to residents that they just don’t matter.”

Ron Orr said: “Milngavie and Bearsden are merging into one big suburbia. We currently have the Allander site – with no sign of the new sports complex promised by negotiation for access to the site! There is the Kilmardinny site. The site of the Bearsden academy. The area that was Canniesburn Hospital. The Elderbank and Fernlea roads front of Canniesburn, two areas up by Boclair Academy. The area behind Boclair house. Has the infrastructure changed? Not a bit of it!”