A FOUR-WAY road junction near where I live was flooded on Saturday, with the water level well over the pavement, encroaching up driveways, adversely affecting walkers and drivers alike. Admittedly, this flooding was nowhere near as damaging or disruptive as the level of flooding seen elsewhere across the city and surrounding suburbs.

Yes, we had very heavy rain off and on over a 36-hour period, however in my opinion, the real cause of this flooding was the fact that at least four roadside drains at this junction are blocked, being full of silt, leaves and the like, and in fact two of the drains are wholly overgrown with grass, and therefore are effectively useless.

I reported this blocked drain situation to Glasgow City Council's roads department some five weeks ago and was told that a surveyor would be required to come out to survey the drains I was reporting, but no time frame for this surveyor's visit could be given to me. What I was told however was that it could be up to 60 days following any surveyor's visit for any drain unblocking/ clearing to be carried out, should the surveyor deem such action necessary. I don’t know if a surveyor has followed up on my report, but needless to say, no action to date has been taken to clear out the drains in question, hence the recent flooding.

With this type of inefficient, “reactive” drain maintenance from the council, it’s no real surprise that so many areas within Glasgow flooded at the weekend, as I’m sure that there must be hundreds of blocked roadside drains all over the city and its suburbs, just like the examples I reported.

I add this to my list as yet another example of the deplorable level of public services we receive from Glasgow City Council, particularly in the areas of road, highway, public space and parks management and maintenance, despite the not-insignificant sums of council taxes we all pay.

Paul McPhail, Glasgow.

• AFTER 36 hours of exceptional rainfall many of our vital lifeline transport routes were severed by landslides and floods. They can no longer be considered fit for purpose as the impacts of climate change continue to intensify and happen on a more frequent basis.

Once again, rural Scotland is facing the greatest challenges, with significant damage being reported by national and local transport authorities. Climate change is the root cause of all this; however, the impacts are made worse in rural Scotland through decades of underinvestment in our road and rail networks. This includes both capital works and revenue streams for maintenance.

A national review is now urgently required to look at our transport priorities with a renewed and undiluted focus on existing road and rail networks. How can we make them more climate-resilient and safer to use as quickly as possible?

Fergus Murray, Lochgilphead.

Read more: Wyndford flats demolition project put on hold after court threat

Wyndford residents back demolition

THE Wyndford Future Focus Group (WFFG) is a representative group of the views and interests of Wyndford residents. We believe passionately in a bright new future for our community.

We are proud to live in Wyndford. We love living here and we want to make it an even better place for people to live: now, and in the future.

Wyndford is our community, and it is only right tenants have an active role in shaping regeneration plans.

Let there be no doubt, the overwhelming majority of tenants in Wyndford and in the four outdated multi-storeys fully support the plans by Wheatley Homes Glasgow. It’s what tenants want to see and what our community needs.

The results of a consultation in 2022 showed 85% of Wyndford tenants supported the regeneration plans, and 87% of tenants living in the four blocks earmarked for demolition also backed the proposals. The vast majority of tenants supported the plans then and continue to do so to this day.

The views of the WFFG and the residents we represent are clear: we are 100% behind plans to demolish the four blocks and to build at least 300 new affordable homes, including 255 homes for social rent.

The £13 million being invested in new CCTV, new controlled entry systems, the new concierge station, as well as improved outdoors spaces, better car parking, new bike stores and bin stores, is to the benefit of everyone in the community.

There’s so much to be excited about in Wyndford and we at the WFFG are proud to play our part in helping shape the masterplan.

This regeneration will shape our community for the better, not only for the people who live here today, but for families and generations to come.

Chris Quinn and Henry McLaren, co-chairs of the Wyndford Future Focus Group, Glasgow.

An appetite for multiculturalism

THINKING about Suella Braverman's concern that those migrating to Britain may not readily integrate or may not feel British, I was heartened to see healthy signs of cross-culturalism recently.

When in Glasgow's Buchanan Street a young piper in a kilt was busking, playing the bagpipes accompanied by a gentleman of Afro-Caribbean heritage playing bongo drums. In Inverness there is an Indian restaurant with the name of Ness Mahal and in the same street a takeaway called Mumbai Thistle, thereby drawing the host and indigenous nationalities together. Our local Chinese takeaway in Dingwall is called Dings, which associates their chosen residence of Dingwall with a hint of Chinese heritage.

The aforementioned eateries have demonstrated a sense of humour in this display of multicultural attitude. Maybe those musically or culinary gifted are more aligned with their adopted culture. Perhaps they could be called upon to encourage others entering this country that it is possible to integrate into the host culture without losing their indigenous identity, to the benefit of both.

Irene Munro, Conon Bridge.

Seven miles is an eternity

LIKE Keith Swinley (Letters, October 7), I too empathised with Neil Mackay's article (“We men need to share the pain of empty nest syndrome”, The Herald, October 5). I wept buckets when our first-born was moving into her first flat as I looked at the rows of boxes lining our hall.

As my husband hugged me, he said: "She's only moving to Bridgeton", which was factually correct being seven miles from us, but to me, it was the end of something. However, it has to happen and we do of course move on and adapt. And like Keith, we too are doing our best to spend the kids' inheritance; they can make do with our flat.

Isobel Frize, Glasgow.