Alexandria residents have hit out at new £20,000 plant boxes placed across the town while it is still in desperate need of a drastic revamp.
The 32 boxes - which cost £635 each - have been placed near the Smollett Fountain at the junction between Main Street and Bank Street.
But their effectiveness is being questioned by locals who ask: “Why are they putting out wee frilly bits when half of the town looks like it is crumbling?”
Emma Truscott, who has written to Jackie Baillie MSP with her concerns added:”A bit of folk art doesn’t disguise the fact that there are trees growing out of the surrounding buildings.”
The planters were designed by students at the Vale of Leven Academy with the patterns inspired by Turkey Red dye works for which the Vale was once famous.
The boxes have been funded through Scottish Government’s Sustrans’ Spaces for People scheme as part of wider project to repair and restore the B-listed Smollett fountain.
The project aims to minimise traffic and make the area more pedestrian and cyclist friendly and create a ‘gateway’ into Alexandria Main Street.
But the state of the town centre has long been a cause of concern for local people and businesses with Mitchell Way deemed an eyesore.
The council recently consulted on revamp plans for the town with a ‘masterplan’ for the area promised later this year.
Lifelong resident Annette McPhie told the Lennox: “The council might’ve got away with it if they had done the other work first.
“I understand that there is a long-term plan for the refurbishment of Alexandria. But it’s such a long-term plan that I’ll be pushing up daisies before we get anywhere.
“To me the most important thing is that we get Mitchell Way fixed.
“The best thing that could be done to Mitchell Way is having it razed to the ground. Even if they don’t build on it again it may as well be knocked down. It will look better knocked down than it does at the moment.
“We are in a great tourist area with Loch Lomond. But we look like a third world country. We aren’t getting anywhere.”
Whilst in her letter to MSP Jackie Baillie, Emma said: “I was very shocked when I saw the new plant troughs around the fountain in Alexandria.
“They have no connection with the area in which they are placed.
“Once again the council seems intent on fobbing off Alexandria.
“What would have been wrong with a few decent stone troughs which reflected the fountain itself?
“When is Alexandria going to get someone in charge who can obtain the funds to do a decent job at regeneration?
“Alexandria should and could be bustling and prosperous, but
it has been starved of the investment it needs. It is an absolute disgrace.”
We told you in May this year how Janice Ross from the Vale of Leven Trust expressed her shock that West Dunbartonshire Council had prioritised fountain restoration as the group were pushing for a town centre revamp for the past three years.
Janice told the Lennox Herald: “There are ongoing problems with the buildings in the town centre, lack of lights, lack of signage and canopies are leaking. Along with the pavements, these are the things we have been asking them to fix.”
A resident who asked not to be named told us: “Folk are doing their nut over this. The planters look ridiculous when the place is a mess.
“It has been described as like a row of coffins. Some residents see them as a danger to vehicles as some are placed near the road.
“This has turned the Vale into a laughing stock.”
A spokesperson for West Dunbartonshire Council said that, following the closure on a consultation about the future of the Vale, responses will be published online and a blueprint for revamp revealed later this year.
They added: “The introduction of the planters was subject to a road safety audit, which identified no concerns. They are positioned to leave sufficient pavement space for people to safely physically distance from each other.
“Following an award from the Sustrans Spaces for People fund, the project enlisted the help of local school children from the Vale of Leven Academy who created the planter designs taking inspiration from and celebrating the town’s textile heritage with Turkey Red-style animal and flower motifs.”
The council say feedback can be submitted to regeneration@west-dunbarton.gov.uk.
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