A council leader has admitted that City Deal projects like the dualling of Stewartfield Way could be changed.
Glasgow Council leader Cllr Susan Aitken, who has openly criticised some of the schemes, revealed the news when quizzed at a Holyrood committee by last week.
The Local Government and Communities Committee is conducting an inquiry into City Deals and grilled council leaders from across Scotland.
I have opposed the dualling of Stewartfield Way for years and asked Cllr Aitken if any councils had asked for schemes to be removed.
When pressed, Councillor Aitken said that whilst no one had asked to remove projects from the Glasgow City Region Deal, she confirmed that some councils wanted to revisit their projects in terms of their long-term economic and community benefits.
That is a sensible approach and one that South Lanarkshire Council should adopt. I’m not saying we scrap the Stewartfield Way project in its entirety.
The planned flyover at Kingsgate has always made sense to me and anyone else who knows the road.
That’s where congestion occurs and nobody would argue with it.
What is crystal clear, is that there is no need to dual the whole of Stewartfield Way, there is no case for it and there has certainly been no consultation with the residents who will be most impacted by it.
As Councillor Aitken admitted, there was a real lack of public consultation when the Glasgow City Deal projects were originally chosen. I have to give credit to Glasgow City Council, they are in the process of rectifying that with genuine engagement with the local communities now taking place.
South Lanarkshire Council should follow suit and engage with the people of East Kilbride, seeking their views on the best use of the Glasgow City Deal funds for the town.
I think we all know the answer to that one, as my recent survey showed the people of the town are increasingly frustrated with a poor train service and believe money would be better-spent improving that.