This isn't graffiti, this is powerful street art. We should be proud

It was a worthy piece.

Unfortunately, prominence was given to a Glasgow councillor who is "still haunted" by a stroll along the Clyde, near to the now-defunct Virgin Hotel, because of the smell of hash and the graffiti.

Apparently some people told James Scanlon the painting was "hideous, tasteless, provocative and frightening", and he demanded action to "remedy this blight".

I could not disagree more. This is street art, much of which is of the highest quality and enhances the stone walls, just as it does with more celebrated works on the gable ends of tenements in Glasgow.

I walked the same walk and posted pictures on Facebook. The response was extremely positive from around the world.

If Councillor Scanlon has travelled to any of the great European cities he should know how street art is revered there.

I was in Valencia, Faro and Lisbon recently and was knocked out by the way they decorate their walls and even shop shutters.

Councillor Scanlon should open his eyes and close his nostrils.

Andy Stenton, Glasgow.

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Pity the Glasgow 850 partygoer

BARRY Didcock attempts to talk up the importance of the Glasgow 850 events planned for next year ("Glasgow 850 may seem like flannel but it really does matter", The Herald, September 25). But as a proud Glaswegian I look around the city and the thought occurs to me that if I were holding a birthday party I would make sure my house was clean and tidy first, sadly two adjectives not many would associate with Glasgow city centre.

Mr Didcock highlights the fact that Glasgow is a Unesco City of Music. then goes on to say "and it has swapped heavy industry for something called "the night time economy". If he is unsure what "the night time economy " is or what it contributes to Glasgow then perhaps he should have read the recently-published Moffat Report from Glasgow Caledonian University which shows that despite the well-documented decline being felt across all business sectors in Glasgow city centre the night time economy supports over 1,000 jobs directly and last year was worth £1.8 billion to Glasgow. Later in the piece he writes "infrastructure and attractions matter - everything from theatres and shops to cafes and bike lanes"; strangely no mention of restaurants or pubs as attractions, and as for infrastructure I am sure Glaswegians and potential visitors would be less concerned with bike lanes and more worried about the city's embarrassingly poor public transport.

The city still does not have integrated ticketing and its Underground system shuts before the pubs six days a week and at 6pm on a Sunday. Pity the poor Glasgow 850 partygoer trying to get out of the city centre at night.

William Gold, Glasgow.

Be honest on planning

WE’RE all Nimbys. The headline on Rebecca McQuillan’s piece, "Nimbys need tackled - but local voices also need heard" (The Herald, September 26), hit the nail bang on the head.

But to developers and council planners (and other statutory bodies) it’s all a question of mind over matter. Neither really mind what local residents say because, to both, local residents really don’t matter.

Council planners religiously follow the statutory planning process but in a tick-box manner. Residents can express whatever concerns they like, including on specific recognised “planning matters”, but so often feel what they say is simply ignored. A client once described it as “planning was just done to us rather than meaningfully engage with us”.

Developers are hedged with detailed conditions not only in the grant of planning permission but also contractually in Section 75 Agreements. But anyone living near, or on, a new development know developers so often simply get amendments from the planners to negate these conditions as the development progresses. When the last house is sold these profit-sucking developers ignore any remaining conditions, shrug their shoulders and walk away.

Why? Because they know only too well that the council planners can’t or won’t stand up to them by demanding compliance and because the council legal departments are so often just not up to the task.

And if you doubt me, check out the now-closed but unremediated Grand Canyon of the opencast coal mines in East Ayrshire.

Last week in Stewarton, Scottish Water put on a photo/plan montage of a two-year programme of sewerage engineering to alleviate sewers flooding. We all know the sewerage system is not fit for current purposes, let alone anticipated new housing developments, and we all know the engineering fix means disruption.

Very pretty the montage was too but it didn’t give any real info as to what roads will be closed, when and for how long. After nearly losing my rag at the “that’s not my job” buck-passing of the Scottish Water/Caledonian Water Alliance chap, I eventually extracted that the main/only access to/egress from the M77 would be closed for two months with a near 10-mile detour.

As with almost all development, residents will be unhappy, some more than others, but we all know that development is essential. We just want to be engaged and told what it will mean in practical terms. Most residents will meet them more than halfway.

If developers and public authorities really want to tackle Nimbys, I suggest they start by being open and honest in consulting with communities before they even start making their detailed plans, listen to concerns, meaningfully take them on board and when they are executing the development actually do what they said and agreed they would do.

It’s not that hard to understand.

Alasdair Sampson, Stewarton.

The countdown to the Glasgow 850 celebrations has begun (Image: Glasgow City Council)

The numbers game

PLAYING with numbers is one of my pastimes, designed to stave off the onset of dementia.

At my wife's recent birthday dinner, my granddaughter had to respond to a stage whisper from the server, asking which of the digits on the cake came first, the 7 or the 8.

Two times 39 or 3 times 29?

David Miller, Milngavie.