IT is unfortunate when one lives in the vicinity of a calamity. It is bad luck. And bad luck happens to good people. Residents and businesses in the vicinity of the fire-ravaged Glasgow School of Art know all about that.

The residents were required to leave their homes and have had no access to them since. That has been a harsh consequence of the catastrophe, leaving them hostages to misfortune, as it were. Yesterday, their frustration boiled over and they took to the streets in protest.

Their anger has made the much espoused national love for the Mack start to look less than universal. Many people will have been discomfited to read placards saying “Down with the Mack”, while sympathising with the sentiment on others that said: “All we want is to come home.”

In truth, it’s not the art world with which the residents have a beef but Glasgow City Council, which they accuse of having been overwhelmed by events, of vanishing on holidays and, worse, of bureaucracy and “bunkerism”. The council denies all this vehemently and can adduce the support of others, such as the chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, who’ve been impressed by the dedication of its departments.

Certainly, it’s understandable that residents displaced from their homes might suspect the efforts of “bureaucrats” and discern a lack of haste, particularly when insurers and lawyers are brought into the equation. However, the council is not making matters difficult wilfully. The residents aren’t the council’s enemy, and the council isn’t the residents’ enemy, even if it’s starting to look like that.

That said, the residents have friends and allies in the art world, particularly at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), which has warned it might have to cancel all its shows until next April. Its staff are pleading with the council to be allowed back into the building, even for just 15-minute visits to retrieve vital computer equipment and documents.

Much of the CCA building is outside the cordon, and there may be a case for applying some common sense in this instance. The council is compelled by law to protect life, but that ought not to prevent it taking an earlier than planned reassessment of the exclusion zone’s extent.

As for the residents, it feels as insensitive to ask them for patience as it is easy to demand the council make more haste, particularly bearing in mind the need to ensure the safety of those doing the difficult dismantling work. But, as residents plead of being “drained” by the wait, we trust that their needs, and those of businesses and the arts, will – every single, long day – be at the forefront of the council’s approach.